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FISHING 



IN 



AMERICAN WATERS. 



By GENIO C. SCOTT. 




A NEW EDITION, CONTAINING PARTS SIX AND SEVEN, 



ON SOUTHERN AND MISCELLANEOUS FISHES. 



}■ 



I ib 



/ 



WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 



iol 



NEW YORK: 

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN SQUARE. 

1875. 



GH4-A-I 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1 875, by 

Genio C. Scott, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 




TO 

THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS 

FOR THE PROTECTION OF 

FISH, GAME, AND BIRDS OF SONG, 

THIS BOOK IS KESPECTFULLY 

DEDICATED 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 




PREFACE. 



As it might not be deemed kind in me to inflict upon the 
reader my thousand reasons for writing and illustrating this 
book with pencil sketches copied from life, 1 will therefore 
merely state that my experience of many years in the prac- 
tice of the gentle art, which has led me through so many 
scenes of beauty and loveliness, has made me wish that 
all the world might learn the enjoyment conferred by the 
practice of angling. 

I have endeavored to portray the recreations of the an- 
gler in America, with his implements and his game ; add- 
ing a small tribute to the temperate and industrious class 
of men who follow for a livelihood the hazardous business 
of fishing on the broad seas. 

An outline of the progress of fish-culture in Europe and 
America is also given, with pencil sketches illustrative of 
the art of hatching and rearing fishes, including stairs and 
fish-passes for enabling fishes to surmount mill-dams and 
falls. 

The fishes of our coast and estuaries, and the peculiar 
methods adopted for their capture, form not only a sealed 
book to Europeans, but to those anglers in America also 
who confine their recreations to fresh-water attractions. 
Each game fish affords a distinct interest, with peculiarities 
worth studying. 

My sketches may lack artistic finish, but possess the 
merit of correct outline; and in the words of Raphael, 
" The outline is the picture." The reader may be assured 
that fishing, whether for recreation or gain, entices its vo- 
taries to unexplored sources of revenue and pleasure. 



Vlll 



Preface. 



I am under compliment to the following gentlemen : 

Francis Francis, of "The Field," author of "Fish-cul- 
ture," and " A Book on Angling," has contributed valuable 
suggestions, which I am pleased to acknowledge. 

Isaac M'Lellan. To this accomplished poet I am in- 
debted for contributing original verses to head my descrip- 
tions of several among our most important fishes. 

Thomas Tod Stoddart, whose " Angler's Companion" has 
afforded me both information and pleasure. 

Emile Blan chard, Member of the Institute and Professor 
of ]SI atural History, Paris. 

James Rennie, M.A., Professor of Zoology, King's Col- 
lege, London. 

Walter Brackett, Artist, Boston, contributed the Brook 
Trout and Whitefish. 

J. B. Stearns, Brooklyn, E. D. Frontispiece of a Striped 
Bass, photographed from a picture painted by him. 

Seth Green, Mumford, 1ST. Y. Fish-culture. 

Stephen H. Ainsworth, West Bloomfield, N. Y. Natural 
Spawning Race. 

Micldleton, Carman, & Co., Fulton Market. Statistics of 
Fishes. 

Gilbert Comstock, Fulton Market — wholesale depart- 
ment. Fisheries Statistics. 

Andrew Clerk & Co., Maiden Lane. Samples of supe- 
rior Flies and Split Bamboo Rods. 

Pritchard Brothers, Fulton Street. Artificial Flies and 
fine Bass-reel. 

Mr. M'Bride, Mumford, K Y. Fine Trout-flies and 
Stained Gut Lines. 

John Shields, Brookline, Mass. Specimens of excellent 
Trout-flies. 



CONTENTS. 

PART I. 

COAST AND ESTUAEY FISHING WITH ROD AND LINE. 
CHAPTER I. 

Section Page 

I. General Characterization of Fishes 17 

II. Prerequisites for Fishing 22 

III. General Habits and Senses of Fishes 24 

IV. On Vision in Fishes 26 

V. On Taste in Fishes 33 

VI. On Smell in Fishes 36 

VII. On Hearing in Fishes 38 

CHAPTER II. 

I. Fecundity of Fishes 41 

II. Voracity of Fishes 42 

III. Times of Feeding and Haunts of Fishes 44 

CHAPTER III. 

I. Coast and Estuary Fishes 46 

II. Angling for Striped Bass 48 

III. Trolling in Hell Gate 52 

IV. Still-baiting for Bass 58 

V. Casting-bait for Striped Bass , 64 

VI. Angling at the Bassing Clubs ' 69' 

CHAPTER IV. 

I. Weakfish or Squeteague 79 

II. Southern Sea Trout 82 

III. Sheepshead 84 

IV. Angling for Sheepshead 92 

V. The Kingfish '. 95 

VI. The Hogfish, 98; the Grunter, 99; the Golden Mullet, 100; the 
White Perch, 101; the Smelt, 102; the Spearing, 103; the Cap- 
lin 105 

VII. The Sea Bass, 106 ; the Porgee 108 

VIII. The Family of the Wrasses or Rockfish, 111 ; the Tautog or Black- 

fish, 113 ; the Flounder 116 

IX. The Bluefish 117 

X. The Spanish Mackerel 126 

XL The Bonetta or Bonito 132 

XII.' The Cero, Cerus, or Sierra, 134 ; the Horse Mackerel 135 



PART II. 

FRESH-WATER FISHING WITH FLY AND BAIT. 

CHAPTER I. 

I. The Poetry of Angling 141 

II. The Brook Trout 146 

III, Fly-fishing for Trout, 154 ; Modern Splice for Fly-rods 159 

1* 



Contents. 



Section CHAPTER II. Page 

I. Fly-fishing on Massapiqua Lake , 162 

II. How to Fish a Stream 165 

III. Knots, Loops, and Drops, 1G6; how to Stain Silk-worm Gut, 170; 
Trout-reels, 172 ; Fly-rods, 173; Landing-nets, 173 ; Trout- bas- 
ket, 174 ; Bait-box, 174 ; Straightening Casting-lines, 175 ; Nat- 
ural and Artificial Trout-flies 176 

CHAPTER III. 

I. Middle Dam Camp 181 

II. Select Artificial Trout-flies, 184; Round Bend Fly-hooks, 185; 

Fish-hook Philosophy 185 

III. Bait-fishing for Trout 189 

CHAPTER IV. 

I. Lesson by Josh Billings, 191 ; the Ardent Angler 192 

II. Angling for Children 198 

CHAPTER V. 

I. The Salmon 202 

II. Outfit for Salmon-fishing 215 

III. Departure for Salmon-fishing, 215 ; our Start up the St. John 218 

IV. The Encampment 222 

V. Camping in the Wilderness, 228; a Morning's Experience 234 

VI. History and Rumination 236 

VII. Jolly Sport on Rattling Run ; . . 241 

VEIL Fly-fishing below the Falls 244 

IX. Thoughts of returning Homeward , 251 

X. The Silver or Sea Trout, 255; the White Trout, 258; the Winnin- 
ish, 260 ; Red Trout of Long Lake, 262 ; Trout of Seneca and 

Cayuga Lakes, 263 ; the Mackinaw Trout 264 

XL American Pickerel or Pike, 266 ; Skittering for Pickerel among 

the Lily-pads, 270 ; Still-baiting for Pickerel 271 

CHAPTER VI. 

I. Trolling among the Thousand Islands 274 

II. The Maskinonge 277 

III. The Black Bass, 280 ; the Oswego Bass, 282 ; the Black Bass of the 

South, 284 ; the Spotted Bass or Speckled Hen, 285 ; Rock Bass 
of the Lakes 285 

IV. The Sun-fish, 286; the Perch, 287; the Glass-eyed or Wall-eyed 

Pike, 288 ; the Whitefish, 290 ; the Lake Herring, 291 ; the Cis- 
co or Ciscoquette, 292 ; the Shiner 294 

V. Bait-can and Baits, 294; Spinning-baits, 295 ; Hackett's Spinning- 
tackle, 296; Haskell's Trolling -bait, 297; the Propelling_ Min- 
now, 298; Buel's Patent Feather Troll, 299; Spinning Tackle 
for Live Baits, 299 ; Spoon Victuals for Long-snouts, 302; Troll- 
ing Weather and Baits, 303 ; Fish-hooks, 304 ; Salmon-flies, 306 ; 
Fly- dressing, 308; Mounting Salmon -hooks, 310; the Ponder- 
ating Sinker 310 



PART III. 

COMMERCIAL FISHERIES. 



CHAPTER I. 
Lake Fisheries 315 



Contents. 



CHAPTER II. 

COAST FISHES AND FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
Section Pajre 

I. The Mackerel 319 

II. The Shad 334 

III. The Mossbunker or Menhaden, 326; Menhaden for Bait — Frozen 

Herrings 328 

IV. The Codfish— Catching and Curing it 328 

CHAPTER III. 
Whale Fishing, 332 ; the Striped Red Mullet 338 

CHAPTER IV. 
Salt-water Fisheries, 339; the Chesapeake Bay Fishery, 342; Findon 

Haddocks, 342 ; Preserving Food-fishes Fresh 343 



PART IV. 

ANCIENT AND MODERN FISH-CULTURE. 

CHAPTER I. 
The Art among the Ancients 347 

CHAPTER II. 
Fish-culture in Europe in Early Times 350 

CHAPTER III. 
Fish-culture of this Century „ „ 355 

CHAPTER IV. 

Natural History of the Salmon, 367 ; Development of the Salmon 371 

CHAPTER V. 

I. Fish Propagation assisted by Art, 378; best Water for hatching 
Salmon, 382 ; special Directions about preparing Spawning-boxes, 
386; securing the Ova of a Salmon, 387; Mr. Gillone's Process 
of propagating Trout and Salmon, 388; Care in obtaining Fecun- 
dated Spawn, 390 ; a simple Process for preparing a Spawning- 
bed, 392; feeding young Trout or Salmon, 392; stocking old 

Ponds with Trout 393 

II. Ainsworth's Race and Screens, 397; Furman's natural Hatching 
Race, 401; "General Directions" by Seth Green, 403; every 
Farmer should have a Trout Preserve, 405; General Observa- 
tions 406 

CHAPTER VI. 
Salmon Passes, Ladders, etc 407 



PART V. 

A GLIMPSE OF ICHTHYOLOGY. 
CHAPTER I. 
I. First Class of Fishes— Spine-rayed bony Fishes, 424 ; Second Class 
of Fishes— Soft-rayed bony Fishes, 428; Third Class of Fishes- 
Cartilaginous Fishes 432 

II. The common Eel, 436 ; the Lamprey, 437 ; queer Fishes 439 

III. Fishes for acclimatizing in American Rivers 440 



xii Contents. 

PART VI. 

SOUTHERN FISHES, AND HOW ANGLED FOE. 

CHAPTER I. Page 

Florida Fishes and Fishing 445 

Section CHAPTER II. 

I. Spot-tail Bass 450 

II. The Red Snapper, 453; long-barred Mullet, 454; the Kingfish, 455; 

cross-barred Mullet 456 

III. The Grouper, 456 ; the Red Drum 458 

CHAPTER III. 

I. The Pompano, 460 ; the Crocus 461 

II. The Cavallo, 462 ; Lafayette : the Spot 463 

III. The Virginia Hogfish, 465 ; the Shadine, 466 ; the Silver, or Gray 

Mullet, 466 ; the Black Mullet ' 467 

CHAPTER IV. 

FKESH-WATEK FISHES OF THE SOUTH. 

I. White Perch of Mississippi, 468; Southern Chub, or Trout 469 

II. Chub-Robin, 470 ; the Bream 472 

III. The Channel Catfish 474 



PART VII. 

MISCELLANEOUS FISHES, AND HOW TO TAKE THEM. 
CHAPTER I. 

MISCELLANEOUS FISHES. 

I. Lake Trouts— The Togue, 479 ; the Siscowet 481 

II. The California Salmon 483 

III. The Grayling 485 

CHAPTER II. 
I. The Red Bass of Canada, 490 ; Otsego Lake Bass, 491 ; Genesee 

River Mullet, or Red Horse, 492 ; the Horned Dace 493 

II. The Whiting— Whiting of Newport, Rhode Island, 494 ; the Ling, 

495; Gurnard 495 



APPENDIX. 

Cookery adapted to the Resources of Sportsmen in the Wilderness or on 
the Wave, 497; General Rules for Cooking, 512; Compounding 
Fancy Drinks, 514 ; General Remarks, 516 ; Noteworthy Items, 
517; American Game-laws, 521 ; a Word in Conclusion 532 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



1. Frontispiece— The Striped Bass. 

2. Title-page.— An Angler's Outfit. 

3. First Families 17 

4. Egyptian Gentleman Fishing 20 

5. Names of Fins 24 

6. Brain and Nerves of Fishes 26 

7. Artificial Dragon-fly 30 

S. Angler's Natural Flies 31 

9. Hooks for Estuary Fishes 40 

10. The Striped Bass 46 

11. Tackle for Small Bass 50 

12. General Bassing Tackle 54 

13. Trolling in Hell Gate . . . . : 57 

14. Still-baiting for Bass 59 

15. Playing a Bass in the Surf -65 

16. Baits, Thumb-stall, Bait-spoon — 67 

17. Shrimp and Prawn 78 

18. Weakfish or Squeteague 79 

19. Southern Sea Trout 82 

20. The Sheepshead 85 

21. Hooks and Sinkers for Sheepshead 86 

22. The Kingfish 95 

23. Tackle for Kingfish 97 

24. The Hogfish 9S 

25. The Grunter . . . 99 

26. The Golden Mullet 100 

27. The White Perch 101 

28. The Smelt 102 

29. Cast for small Fishes 103 

30. Spearing or Silverside 104 

31. The Caplin 105 

32. Sea Bass 106 

33. Porgee 109 

34. "Wrasses or Rockfish Ill 

35. The Bluefish 117 

36. Bluefish Squids 120 

37. The Flying Fish 121 

3S. Trolling for Bluefish 122 

39. The Troller made Bait of 122 

40. The Spanish Mackerel 127 

41. Spanish Mackerel Feeding 130 

42. Spanish Mackerel Squids 131 

43. Bonetta or Bonito 132 

44. Cero or Sierra 134 

45. Harpooning 135 

46. Horse Mackerel 136 



PAGE 

47. Habits of Fishes 137 

48. Poetry of Angling 141 

49. Brook Trout 147 

50. A Poacher 152 

51. Fly-fishing 155 

52. Trouting Tackle 159 

53. Splice for Fly-rods 160 

54. A pair of Flies 161 

55. Angling on Massapiqua 162 

56. Fly and Minnow Hooks 164 

57. How to Fish a Stream 165 

5S. Knots, Loops, and Drops 167 

59. Trout-flies 177 

60. An Aquarium 180 

61. Middle Dam Camp 1S1 

62. Select Trout-flies 184 

63. Fly Hooks 185 

Different Bends 185 

65. Plate of Trout-flies 188 

66. Josh Billings 191 

67. The Ardent Angler 193 

Green or Gray Drake Fly 197 

69. Going a Fishing 198 

70. Evening 201 

71. The Salmon 202 

72. Hat and Salmon-rod '. 208 

73. Gaff-hooks 214 

74. Fishing Equipment 215 

75. Getting a Bite 215 

76. Encampment 223 

77. Camp Bed 229 

78. Pool below the Chute 245 

79. Silver or Sea Trout 256 

SO. The White Trout 259 

81. TheWinninish 260 

52. Red Trout of Long Lake 262 

53. Trout of Seneca Lake 264 

84. The Mackinaw Trout 265 

55. Pickerel or Pike 266 

56. Open Countenances 267 

57. Skittering for Pickerel 270 

SS. Still-baiting for Pickerel 272 

89. Dragon-flies 273 

90. Trolling— The Thousand Islands. . 274 

91. The Maskinonge 278 

92. The Black Bass 281 



XIV 



List of Illustrations. 



93. The Oswego Bass 2S4 151. 

94. Black Bass of the South 2S4 152. 

95. Spotted Bass or Speckled Heu .... 285! 153. 

96. Rock Bass of the Lakes 280,154. 

9T. Suuflsh 2ST 155. 

9S. The Perch 281:156. 

99. Glass-eyed Pike 289 157. 

100. Whiteflsh 290 15S. 

101. Lake Herring 292 159. 

102. Cisco or Ciscoquette 293 160. 

103. Shiuer— natural Size 294161. 

104. Bait-can 295J162. 

105. Spinning Tackle 297|163. 

103. Spinning Baits 298 164. 

107. Spinning Tackle for Live Baits. . . 300 165. 
10S. Feathered Spoons 303 166. 

109. Fish-hooks 305 167. 

110. Salmon Flies 307 16S. 

111. Mounting Flies .. . 309169. 

112. Ponderating Sinkers 311 170. 

113. Indian Summer 311 171. 

114. Hammer-headed Shark 318 172. 

115. The Mackerel 320 173. 

116. Shad, Menhaden, Herring 324174. 

117. The Codfish 329 175. 

118. The John Dory 331 176. 

119. Whale Fishing 332 177. 

120. Harpooned 333 178. 

121. Striped Red Mullet 33S 179. 

122. A surprised Codfish 339 ISO. 

123. Morning 344 181. 

124. Ancient Fish-culture 347 182. 

125. Modern Fish-culture 355 1S3. 

126. Cuttle-fish ' 366 1S4. 

127. History of the Salmon 367 185. 

12S. Salmon Ova and Alevin 372 186. 

129. Salmon Fry 373187. 

130. Parr Eight Months Old 373 1SS. 

131. Parr Fifteen Months Old 374 189. 

132. Smolt Fifteen Months Old 375 190. 

133. The Grilse 376 191. 

134. Adult Salmon 377 192. 

135. The Swordfish 377 193. 

136. Hatching-hoxcs 3S3 194. 

137. Hatching-race, Tray, and Grille . . 3S4 195. 

138. Siphon and Pincers 3S5 196. 

139. Gathering Salmon Eggs 3S7 197. 

140. Stripping a Trout 391 19S. 

141. Feeding Young Trout 393199. 

142. Ainsworth's Hatching-race 397 200. 

143. A Hard Leap 407 201. 

144. Salmon Leaps 411 202. 

145. Ballysadare Salmon-pass 413 203. 

146. Sligo Salmon-stairs 415 204. 

147. Canadian Salmon-stairs 416 205. 

14S Horizontal Screen 419 206. 

149. Current Wheel 419 207. 

150. Ichthyology 423 20S, 



PAGE 

Pike-perch : 423 

Spine-rayed Fishes 424 

" 425 

" " 420 

The Pilot-fish 426 

Roach and Dace 427 

The Carp Family 42S 

The Pike Family 429 

Salmon and Trout Family 429 

The Cod Family 430 

Flatfish Family 431 

Sharks 432 

Sturgeon and Chimsera 432 

Ray Family 433 

Catfish Family 433 

Grenouille 434 

The common Eel 436 

The Lamprey 437 

Estuary Catfish and Silure 440 

The short Suuflsh 442 

Spot-tail Bass 450 

The Red Snapper 453 

The Long-barred Mullet 454 

The Kingfish 455 

The Cross-barred Mullet 456 

The Grouper 456 

The Red Drum 458 

The Pompano 460 

The Crocus 461 

The Cavallo 462 

Lafayette : The Spot 463 

Virginia Hogflsh 465 

The Shadine 466 

The Gray Mullet 460 

The Black Mullet 467 

Float 467 

White Perch of Mississippi 468 

Southern Chub, or Trout 469 

Chub-Robin 470 

The Bream 472 

Channel Catfish 474 

The Togue 479 

The Siscowet 4S1 

The .lolly Angler 4S3 

California Salmon 484 

The Grayling 4S5 

A Disaster 490 

Canadian Red Bass 490 

Otsego Lake Bass 491 

Mullet, or Red Horse 492 

The Horned Dace 493 

Whiting of Newport 404 

The Ling 495 

The Gurnard 495 

Cookery 497 

Reel to Dry Lines 517 

Feet Dress for Field-sports 520 

Invitation to the Streams 531 



art Jixst 



ON COAST AND ESTUAKY FISHING 



BOD AND LINE. 



FISHING IN AMERICAN WATERS. 



CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL CHARACTERIZATION OF FISHES. 
SECTION FIRST. 

ON" seriously contem- 
plating the immensity 
of the waters and their 
innumerable inhabit- 
ants, it is not difficult to 
realize the importance 
of these branches of ma- 
terial and animal na- 
ture, and I shall con- 
sider myself fortunate 
if able to present rea- 
sons sufficient to induce 
the employment of an 
amount of time at all 
commensurate with the proper division of labor between land 
and water for the purposes of health, wealth, and recreation. 
Not only has a larger portion of this terraqueous ball been 
bequeathed to fish-kind than to mankind, but " its first fam- 
ilies" were also more richly endowed by Providence in beauty 
of form and of coloring. There was a period when all the in- 
habitants of this planet were fishes, previously to the sublime 
moment when " God said ' Let the dry land appear.' " The 
ancients thought that the illimitable beauties of the waters 
were reflected in the heavens; hence they gave to the con- 
stellations the names of fishes. Thus, prior to the time of 

B 




18 Fishing in American Waters. 

Galileo, when the earth was believed to he a great flat plain, 
the celestial expanse was divided by them into the northern 
and southern constellations, the most important of which 
were named after their favorite fishes. Out of the legends 
connecting these fishes with heathen divinities there have 
been evolved and handed down to us, revised and improved, 
the signs of the zodiac, indicated in almanacs by the figure 
of a man, which signs are still reverently consulted by both 
sailor and angler ; and the latter is never confident or hope- 
ful of great success unless the sign be above the loins. 
Whether or no this be a superstition bequeathed by the an- 
cients I have not bestowed much time in examining, but 
plead guilty to the weakness of individual faith, and feel con- 
fident of good sport only when the sign is in the head, stom- 
ach, or bowels, but never when it is in the legs or feet. 

Man, from his inferior share of the earth's surface, to which 
little space he appears confined without a fin to dive or a 
wing to soar, contemplates with pleasure the scintillating 
heavens ; while the sublime roar of the ocean, its breakers 
beating the shores into fragments With its billowy battalions 
in close lines, and in storms booming like thunder, penetrate 
his soul with awe and reverence at the power manifested, to 
which, in comparison, his own is nothing. 

But it is not my intention to estimate the power of the 
waters, or their value for bathing or manufacturing purposes. 
My object is to show the reader the attractions of angling, 
and to convince him that wherever commensurate efforts 
have been made, the waters have yielded greater profits to 
his toil or skill than the land. I strongly advocate the main- 
tenance of a large maritime power. As a means of wealth, 
the experience of the British Isles — isolated, and compara- 
tively insignificant on the map of the world as they are — 
proves that nothing is too exalted to be hoped for by a lib- 
eral maritime power. But it is the wealth of the waters in 
the riches of their inhabitants to which I would chiefly invite 
attention. As to the intelligence of fishes, comparatively lit- 



Fishing includes Angling. 19 

tie is known"; but I feel assured that they would rank higher 
in the " scale of entities" than the fourth class of vertebrate 
animals, accorded them by Cuvier, did all men of thought and 
science appreciate and pursue fishing. 

Fishing, as a term, is general ; while angling is a special 
kind of fishing. The word angling is supposed to have been 
derived from the bend of the hook, forming an angle ; but 
the origin or antiquity of the term is comparatively unim- 
portant now. It is sufficient to know that the art of angling 
" requires as much enthusiasm as poetry, as much patience as 
mathematics, and as much caution as housebreaking." 

That field-sports were among the earliest and most respect- 
able pastimes of the ancients, we have abundant evidence 
from their poets and philosophers, such as Aristotle, Plato, 
Cicero, and Horace ; and that angling was practiced " with 
much success and love of the sport is evident from the Hali- 
eutics of Oppian, the only Greek poem now extant on this 
subject;" but we learn from Athenaeus that several other 
writers had written treatises or poems upon fishing some 
centuries before the Christian era. 

" Fishing was a favorite pastime of the Egyptian gentle- 
man, both in the Nile and in the spacious ' sluices, or ponds 
for fish,'* constructed within his grounds, where they were 
fed for the table, and where he amused himself by angling,! 
and the dexterous use of the Mdent, a two-pronged spear for 
striking two fish at a time. These favorite occupations were 
not confined to young persons, nor thought unworthy of men 
of serious habits ; and an Egyptian of rank, and of a certain 
age, is frequently represented in the sculptures catching fish 
in a canal or lake, with the line, or, spearing them as they 
glided past the bank. Sometimes the angler posted himself 
in a shady spot by the water's edge, and, having ordered his 
servants to spread a mat upon the ground, sat upon it as he 
threw his line ; and some, with higher notions of comfort, 
used a chair, as ' stout gentlemen' now do in punts. The rod 
* Isaiah xix., 10. t Isaiah xix., 8. 



20 



Fishing est Ameeican Waters. 




An Egyptian gentleman Ashing. 

was short, and apparently of one piece ; the line usually sin- 
gle, though instances occur of a double line, each with its 
own hook, which was of bronze. In all cases they adopted a 
ground bait, as is still the custom in Egypt, without any 
float ; and though several winged insects are represented in 
the paintings hovering over the water, it does not appear 
that they ever put them to the hook, and still less that they 
had devised any method similar to our artificial-fly fishing, 
which is still as unknown to the unsophisticated modern 
Egyptians as to their fish." 

Prime kinds of fishes are, and have for some years been, in 
the cities of this country, expensive articles of diet. It was 
so in Athens ; and the following poem, quoted by Athenams 
from "The Purple" of Xenarchus (Yonge's translation), is pre- 
sented for the benefit of those who retail stale fish from stands 
along the streets : 

' ' Poets are nonsense ; for they never say 
A single thing that's new. But all they do 
Is to clothe old ideas in language new ; 
Turning the same things o'er and o'er again, 
And upside down. But as to fishmongers, 
They're an inventive race, and yield to none 



Beauty in Form and Coloring. 21 

In shameless conduct. For as modern laws 

Forbid them now to water their stale fish, 

Some fellow, hated by the gods, beholding 

His fish quite dry, picks with his mates a quarrel, 

And blows are interchanged. Then when one thinks 

He's had enough, he falls and seems to faint, 

And lies like any corpse among his baskets. 

Some one calls out for water ; and his partner 

Catches a pail, and throws it o'er his friend 

So as to sprinkle all his fish, and make 

The world believe them newly caught and fresh." 

In regard to propagating fishes, the experiments of the an- 
cients amounted to little more than robbing the nests of her- 
bivorous fishes, and planting the eggs in other waters ; but the 
moderns have, within the past thirty years, invented success- 
ful theories for studying the habits of fishes at their aqueous 
homes, in rapid streams, or placid lakes, and deep down into 
the depths of old ocean. As these will be explained in this 
work under their appropriate titles of ancient and modern 
fish culture, I merely allude to them in passing as having — 
through their developments of the habits of fishes — opened 
up a subject so attractive as to have induced anglers and 
men of science to study more assiduously and minutely these 
creatures of elegant forms, whose colors vie with the rainbow, 
and reflect the hues of every precious stone. See their scin- 
tillant scales, their metallic rays, and colors more beautiful 
than are given to birds of most favored plumage ! What 
satin sheen, aurora borealis, or heavenly sunset can vie with 
the prismatic colors of the living trout or the dying dolphin? 
What gold so finely burnished as the spots on the Spanish 
mackerel ? or what shade of carmine so brilliant as the spots 
on a samlet? What so transcendently lustrous and beau- 
tiful as a fresh-run salmon ? 

The Spanish mackerel, salmon, and bonetta combine to 
form the models for the speed and beauty of our ships. 
Even as far back as the Revolutionary War, one of our ships 
was named "Bonetta." In symmetry of form and beautiful 
coloring, fishes stand at the head of animal creation. 



22 Fishing in American Waters. 

SECTION SECOND. 

PREREQUISITES FOE FISHING. 

In order to pursue with success any branch of fishing, a 
knowledge of both the senses and habits of fishes is essential. 
Angling is one of the most ancient methods of fishing, as 
proven by the centre-draught hook exhumed at Thebes and 
at Pomj^eii. The hook used in China, when that realm was 
first discovered by the Christians, was quite similar in bend, 
and all of the ancient models left nothing to desire but a barb, 
which is the only improvement made in the shape of the com- 
mon fish-hook within three thousand years. And it is worthy 
of remark, that the bend of the ancient hook is so like the 
best hooks of the present day — eminently the O'Shaughnessy 
and the American Kinsey, the latter known as the Pennsyl- 
vania hook — that some suspect ours to be a copy of the an- 
cient bend, with the addition of an Aberdeen barb. Our age, 
however, has surpassed all others in artificial disguises to 
lure the finny tribes, and take the conceit out of them a 
thousand-fold faster than ever could the ancients. 

The habits of fishes to be fished for, whether by angling or 

any other means, should be carefully studied. So also should 

their food. 

" Fish have their various characters defined, 
Not more by color than by mind." 

They have their times to eat and their choice of food. Thus 
the trout will take ground bait or minnows as substantial 
food, but for his dessert he prefers rising to the surface for 
flies. That most fresh-water fishes fast previous to important 
rain-storms I think has become settled by the experience of 
old anglers. Their appetite appears to be improved by a 
shower. Most fishes seem to scent the approach of a shower, 
and know by instinct that, with the debris carried down by 
a rise in the stream, they will find a variety of food from 
which to select. Pike generally bite eagerly when it rains ; 
and both trout and salmon will rise to the fly most readily 



Appetite and Locomotion. 23 

during a fall of snow or rain. Indeed, a snow-storm seems to 
improve the appetite of some fishes ; and rains which do not 
render the stream too turbid, but give to the water a slight- 
ly-darkened tint, do not injure it for even fishing with the fly. 

It is a commonly received opinion that angling is not as 
good as usual during easterly winds; but this is only true 
when the winds cause the tides to rise so high on our coast 
that fishes change their feeding-grounds. Fly-fishing for 
both salmon and trout are, in some waters, best during an 
east wind. A really windy day is not good for fly-fishing. 
The gentle, balmy breeze, which merely produces a catspaw 
ripple on the surface, and carries the cast of flies out, so as to 
leave part of the merit for their graceful and snow-flake fall 
to the angler and the rod, under " a sun of mild but not too 
bright a beam," form a few of the conditions which give fly- 
fishing its peculiar zest. The prejudice against an east wind 
with the American angler on the Atlantic slope near the 
coast is probably caused by the fact that an east wind so 
raises the tides along the. shores, and sets it back in the estu- 
aries and creeks, as to cover shoals and islets of eel-grass. 
This gives fishes a wider range to forage and prospect over 
shallow and weedy places for shrimp, shedder and soft-shell 
crabs, instead of remaining in the tideway to watch for bait 
carried along by the current. 

To converse intelligibly about fishes, it is necessary to 
know the names of their fins, for these give the means of lo- 
comotion ; and though this work is not intended as a school- 
book, or to be especially scientific, yet, as all retailers of fish- 
stories should know enough of a fish to name its fins, I pre- 
sent on the following page the form of a fish, with the names 
of them. 

The propulsive power of a fish is its tail or caudal fin. 
The pectorals and ventrals assist a little in speed, but more 
especially in turning and diving, while the anal and dorsals 
serve as centre-boards to a ship, to prevent leeway and being 
easily capsized. Of rapid swimmers in the American waters, 



2-t Fishing in American Waters. 





the sword-fish, Spanish mackerel, and the salmon are consid- 
ered the swiftest of the forked-tails ; but the salmon has not, 
strictly speaking, a forked tail ; it is more properly crescent- 
shaped. Of square -tails, the brook trout, squeteague, and 
Southern estuary trout are the swiftest swimmers. 

SECTION THIRD. 

GENERAL HABITS AND SENSES OF FISHES. 

Generally speaking, the principal habits and instincts of a 
majority of the finny armies consist in eating and protecting 
themselves from being eaten. The fact that over two thirds 
of the surface of the globe is covered by the sea, and that 
large parts of continents are covered by lakes, traversed by 
rivers, and occupied by marshes, proves the impossibility for 
man to have scanned with perspicacious eye the principal 
marked peculiarities of a majority of the families which 
dwell deep down in the bosom of old ocean, however indus- 
trious he may have been in such research. 

Though the Chinese had understood fish culture many cen- 
turies, yet we date our practical knowledge of this art from 
A.D. 1837, when Mr. Shaw, of Scotland, expounded the theory 
in Blackwood under the head of " The transmutation of sal* 
mon" and M. Gehen, of the Vosges, in France, began to culti- 
vate fish by artificial propagation. We now know that the 
difference in the species of fishes is no greater than is the di- 
versity of their habits. Some are solitary, and others grega- 
rious ; some great wanderers, others restricted within narrow 
limits; some are surface-feeders, like the mackerel families, 



The Value op a Teak. 25 

others bottom fish, like the flounders and the flat-fish family ; 
some prefer a sandy bottom, as the kingfish, others a rocky, 
as the striped bass ; and yet others rejoice in mud, as the eels 
and catfish, with the rest of the silurus family. Some fish 
prefer salt water, others fresh, and yet others brackish ; while 
eels prefer to spawn in salt water and fatten in fresh, as pal- 
pably as do salmon pursue the opposite by feeding in salt 
water and spawning in fresh. Thus salmon, shad, and striped 
bass prefer to feed in salt water, spawn in fresh, and dally in 
brackish waters. Some fishes keep near shore, others in deep 
water and far from land. Bottom fishes are usually sluggish, 
Avhile surface swimmers are generally active. Some lose 
their vitality as soon as they are landed, others live a long 
time out of water, and dart revengeful glances at their cap- 
tors. Some can creep like the eel, others climb trees like the 
anabas scandens. 

I may also state my conviction that a whale is a fish, and 
that the porpoise is also a fish, though members of this genus 
travel in pairs, suckle their young, of which they xisually have 
but one at a birth, which the parent mammals guard with 
jealous care, making it swim between them ; and if the calf 
is harpooned, the mother always yields her life an easy prey 
to the same weapon. The dudong, one of the most intelli- 
gent of mammal fishes, is the Malays' emblem of constancy 
in affection ; and as it is said to cry when wounded by the 
harpoon and brought on deck, they catch the tears and bottle 
them as a charm, supposing that the application of a single 
drop. will render a wife constant for life. 

The black porpoise and the puffing porpus are great con- 
sumers of estuary fishes. They should not only be hunted 
and harpooned, but small cannon loaded with grape or canis- 
ter should be so planted as to project their contents into the 
shoals which attempt to forage near bassing grounds. Por- 
poises watch mouths of rivers for salmon, and they are sup- 
posed to be the principal cause of depopulating many of the 
Irish rivers of that royal fish. 



26 



Fishing in American Waters. 



Either a reward should be offered by each state for every 
porpoise killed in its waters, or gentlemen who compose 
sporting clubs for taking the game fishes of our coast and 
estuaries should adopt a plan for capturing and driving them 
away. The porpoise is one of the most profitable fishes for 
capture, as its oil is the finest possible, and used exclusively 
by watchmakers. 

SECTION FOURTH. 
ON vision in fishes. 




The brain and nerves proceeding therefrom, «, a, 6, 6. The lobes of the brain in five 
ranks, c, c. The nerves of the eye, d, d. The nerves of smell, branching off into di- 
vergent filaments upon the nostrils, e, e. 

That certain senses are bestowed on all animals, intellect- 
ual as well as instinctive, is too self-evident to the man of" 
science and the angler to require proof. These animals need 
both, more than do those which dwell on land, to avoid being 
devoured, and to aid them in capturing and devouring other 
fishes; for their fortifications are often insecure, and they are 
obliged to leave them frequently, and always to commit 
slaughter, or to swallow minor species whole. 

In order, therefore, to render this work practical, it is hard- 
ly necessary that I should dwell upon principles of science 
farther than to show by the nature and habits of fishes the 
motives by which they are actuated, which appear to be, in 
the main, efforts to eat and prevent themselves from being 
eaten. These efforts, carefully studied, will assist the angler, 
and the fisher with nets and other devices. Fishes are gen- 



Round Eyes detect Motion, not Form. 27 

erally taken by the angler while they are foraging for food. 
When salmon or trout rise to feed, they may always be taken 
with a well-made artificial fly, presented to them gently and 
artistically. 

The form of the eyes of almost all fishes proves them to be 
near-sighted. All animals with very convex eyes quickly de- 
tect the slightest motion, but lack the power to discriminate 
form. Hence a deer, with its full lustrous eye, will approach 
any still form to within a few feet of it, but at the first move- 
ment it bounds away like the wind. In addition to the eyes 
of fishes being convex, the density of the water— as a medium 
through which they see — rather shortens than extends vision. 
" The vision must also be farther limited from the eye being 
covered with the common skin of the head to protect the eye- 
ball ; and as they have no eyelids, of course the eyes never 
close ; and, whether sleeping or waking, their vision must be 
indistinct." White, of Selborne, states that eyes of fishes are 
immovable ; but it is known that those of the silver and gold 
fishes in glass cases turn in their sockets as occasion requires, 
and that, while they take little notice of a lighted candle, they 
will dart and appear much terrified if their glass house is 
touched. As fishes have no eyelids, it is difficult to discern 
the difference between their sleeping and waking hours. 
That they do not always sleep in the night is proven by the 
many instances when trout have been taken by rising to the 
artificial white miller in total darkness. M. de Blainville at- 
tributes the greatest distinctness of vision to migratory fishes, 
because he states their eyes are the largest ; but, instead of 
that being so, the cod is about the only migratory fish which 
has larger eyes than the general run of river fishes, while 
those with eyes of moderate size, such as the genus Perca and 
those of the Salmo genus, give indications of better sight than 
most sea fishes. Anglers of great experience and acknowl- 
edged judgment select baits, whether live minnows, or such 
artificial lures as flies, squids, etc., which contrast strongly 
with the water and the color of the clouds. What angler 



28 Fishing in American Waters. 

does not know that a shiner is the best bait to spin for trout 
on a dark day ? 

The sight of fishes is too imperfect to enable them to de- 
cide between friends and enemies. A shadow cast upon the 
water , whether by a ship, seal, otter, or an angler, frightens 
them. Sir Humphry Davy illustrates the truth of this the- 
ory by the anecdote that some man, while walking up Bond 
Street from one of the club-houses with an illustrious person- 
age, laid a wager that he would see more cats than the prince 
in his walk, and that the latter might take which side of the 
street he liked. When they arrived at the end the prince 
had not seen one, while the other had counted thirteen. The 
explanation was that the prince had selected the shady side 
of the street, while the other person chose the sunny side, 
knowing that cats prefer sunshine. Sir Humphry, in his 
" Salmonia," gives the following advice to students at an- 
gling : " You have been, naturally enough, fishing with your 
backs to the sun, which, not being very high, has thrown the 
shadows of yourselves and your rods on the water, and you 
have alarmed the fish whenever you have thrown a fly. You 
see I have fished with my face toward the sun, and, though 
inconvenienced by the light, have given no alarm." 

James Rennie, M.A., states that indistinctness in the vision 
of fishes jDroves the fallacy of the routine angler, who fancies 
the fishes are so well versed in colors and forms of particu- 
lar flies as to refuse other sorts in some seasons and on par- 
ticular days, and even at different periods of the same day. 
" Nothing can be more preposterous than such a notion, uni- 
versal though it be among the most experienced anglers ; yet 
this theory is founded on natural philosophy, but the result 
is to be accounted for on an entirely different principle." 

Daniell states " there is no evidence of any fishes seeing 
a considerable distance, and the conduct of many of them, 
that are deceived by different baits prepared in imitation of 
their food, gives room to suspect that objects are not very 
distinctly perceived by them, even when near." 



Gay Colors the most Attractive. 29 

Light seems peculiarly attractive to fishes, as proven by 
their surrounding a diving-bell with a light in it. Walter 
Scott, in his Guy Mannering, describes the plan adopted in 
Scotland for attracting fishes by grates of living coal, or 
torches carried by the fishermen as they wade shallow 
streams for the purpose of spearing. When a fish is thus 
discovered, it remains fascinated by the glare of light, sel- 
dom makes an effort to escape, and is easily speared. This 
is one of the many devices by which the Indians and vagrant 
whites kill the salmon and trout Avhile on their spawning- 
beds, both in Maine and in the dominion of Canada. 

The Chinese catch fish by employing two narrow boats, 
with a board painted white and varnished nailed to them, so 
as to slope outward and almost touch the water, and so as 
to reflect the light of the moon. Toward these boats the fish 
dart, and, falling on them, are caught with ease. 

From the pretended imitations of baits and flies for cap- 
turing fishes may be logically deduced the fact that fish are 
near-sighted, and do not perceive with great distinctness any 
minute object, however near to them. The most successful 
artificial baits to troll with for the fishes of our lakes and 
rivers are thus arranged : a pair of hooks disguised by a few 
gaudy feathers — bright red and white being the most suc- 
cessful colors — and at the shank of the hook is placed a piece 
of silver, brass, or copper, of oval or diamond shape, so ar- 
ranged as to revolve rapidly, and appear as little like any 
thing living in or out of the water as possible. What is 
known as the common " spoon," made with swivels, and a 
shoulder on the shank of the hook, so as to revolve rapidly 
by drawing it through the water, is frequently a more capti- 
vating lure than a live fish. In trolling for bluefish, a piece 
of lead or bone five inches long forms a more successful lure 
than the sea-shiner which is its principal sustenance ; and a 
piece of pearl, five inches long by half an inch in diameter, 
either round or oval, is the most attractive troll for Spanish 
mackerel ; while a plain piece of red flannel, attached to a 



30 Fishing in American Waters. 

i 

piece of lend and drawn quickly through the water, is often 
the only bait used by heavers and haulers for bluefish, who 
fish for a livelihood. 

Of artificial flies, I know that gaudy colors are generally 
preferred by the black bass, while the red ibis is one of the 
most attractive lures for trout in the waters of Long Island, 
and in many streams and lakes remote from the sea-board. 
Of course the red ibis fly does not imitate any winged insect 
seen on the waters of the State of New York. Its adoption 
resulted from the frequent rises of trout to the red float while 
fishing with bait. I scarcely suppose a critic will be found 
willing to risk his reputation, however slender, upon insisting 
that a red float is the imitation of some water-fly. Anglers 
generally regarded these trout-leaps at the float as a whimsi- 
cal caprice of theirs while on a spree. Not so, however, with 
Judge Philo T. Ruggles and Mr. Finn, two among the best 
fty-fishers in the state. They concluded to test the fancy of 
trout by offering them a red fly. Accordingly, Mr. Finn 
bought a red ibis of a taxidermist, and employed a fly-tyer 
to make it into flies. The result was a success ; and the fly- 
tyer, who was presented with all of them but a couple of 
dozen, actually made money enough by the sale of them to 
set himself up in the fishing-tackle business. Early in the 
season this is the most killing fly on Long Island, though per- 
haps not for large fish, which generally prefer the fly made 




The Artificial Dragon-fly. 



Desseet foe Salmon and Teout. 



31 



of a claret body, brown mallard wing, and tail of the top-knot 
from the golden pheasant ; or the blue professor, with blue 
silk body and dark gray wings. 

With the following remarks from a clever writer on an- 
gling in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and a few comments on 
them, I shall dismiss the subject of the vision in fishes: 

" It may be asked upon what principle of imitative art the 
different varieties of salmon-fly can be supposed to bear the 
most distant resemblance to any species of dragon-fly, to im- 
itate which we are frequently told that they are intended ?" 

The reader will please compare the artificial dragon-fly 
with a true copy of a natural one on the following plate of 
natural salmon and trout flies : 




American Nerve-winged Insects, natural size. 1. Common Dragon-fly. 2. The Ag- 
rion Dragon-fly. 3. Day-fly, or May-fly. 4. Grub or larva of the same. 5. Horned 
Corydalis. C. A Mantispan. 7. The magnified claw of the Mantispan. 



Of the dissimilarity of the artificial lures to the natural 
ones, the same may be generally said and prove true, whether 



32 Fishing est American Waters. 

for salmon, trout, maskinonge, pickerel, black bass, bluefish, 
Spanish mackerel, and all other surface feeders. Besides, the 
pretended imitations are used several months earlier in the 
year than nature produces their originals ; thus, while the 
finest salmon-fishing in Europe is during the spring months, 
the dragon-fly is a summer insect, and rarely makes its a}> 
pearance until June. 

If artificial flies have no resemblance to natural ones, " how 
much more unlike must they be when, instead of being swept 
down by the current, as a real one would be, the artificial fly 
is seen crossing and recrossing every stream and torrent with 
the agility of an otter and the strength of an alligator? 
Now, as it is demonstrable that the artificial fly generally 
used for salmon bears no resemblance, except in size, to any 
living one ; that the only tribe Avhich it may be supposed to 
represent does not exist in the winged state during the pe- 
riod when the imitation is most generally and most success- 
fully used ; and if they did, their habits and natural powers 
totally prevent them from being at any time seen under such 
circumstances as would give a color to the supposition of 
the one being even mistaken for the other, may we not fairly 
conclude that, in this instance at least, the fish proceed upon 
other grounds, and are deceived by an appearance of life and 
motion rather than by a specific resemblance to any thing 
which they had previously been in the habit of capturing ? 
What natural insect do the large flies and spoons at which 
sea trout, lake trout, black bass, etc., bite, resemble ? These, 
as well as salmon, frequently take the lure far within the 
bounds of salt-water mark, and yet materialists know that no 
such thing as a salt-water fly exists. Indeed, no true insect 
inhabits the sea. What species are represented by the palm- 
er, or by three fourths of the dressed flies in use? An arti- 
ficial fly can, at the best, be considered only as the represent- 
ative of a natural one which has been drowned, as it is im- 
possible to imitate the dancing or hovering flight of the in- 
sect over the surface of the stream, and, even with that re- 



Most Fishes aee Shokt-sighted. 33 

stricted idea of its resemblance to nature, the likeness nrust 
be scarcely perceptible, owing to the difference of motion and 
the great variety of directions in which the angler draws bis 
flies, according to the nature and locality of the current and 
the prevailing direction of the wind." 

The sight of fishes is like that of all animals with round 
and convex eyes. If the angler will stand quite still in the 
water, fish will not fear to congregate about him, or to flap 
his legs with their fins ; but with his slightest motion they 
dart to their hiding-places. The convexity of the eye pro- 
duces short-sightedness in man as well as in quadrupeds, 
. birds, and fishes. The round eye is inferior to the almond- 
shaped for distinguishing form : thus round-eyed animals and 
fishes mistake a man for an inanimate object, and, from their 
shortness of vision, approach him without fear. These gen- 
eral and specific reasons convince me that fishes are short- 
sighted, and that, while quick to detect action, they are slow 
to distinguish form. 

SECTION FIFTH. 

OK TASTE IK FISHES. 

The sense of taste in both birds and fishes, which subsist 
on similar food, is less acute than in other animals, a circum- 
stance strongly indicated by the hard, gristly texture of the 
tongue when it exists, which it may scarcely be said to do 
in all fishes, though it is very distinct in the Cyprinidai, and 
rather less so in the genus Salmo. 

Dr. Rennie states that numerous experiments made by him 
on birds whose food consists of small fruit and insects, which 
they swallow without breaking, leads him to conclude that 
they choose some and reject others, not by taste, but by 
touch, probably aided by smell ; and he adds, " I have no 
doubt it is the same with fishes ; at least it is obvious, from 
their so generally swallowing their food without chewing or 
bruising it, that, even if they possessed acute taste, it could 
not aid them in the discrimination." 

C 



34 Fishing in American Waters. 

The large tongue in the carp may have been providentially 
furnished to give it a more acute taste for preventing it from 
being poisoned by eating water hemlock, or other deleterious 
plants, as it is known to feed on water-plants. That all fish 
are not thus provided with taste sufficiently acute to enable 
them to reject what is poisonous, appears from the practice 
of poachers in poisoning fish by pulverizing and making a 
paste of fisher's berries, or Gocculus indicus, which they form 
into balls about the size of peas and cast into the water. 
Fish greedily swallow these, and, becoming intoxicated or 
palsied thereby, float to the surface of the water and are eas- 
ily caught, or soon die. Chub and dace are ready victims 
to this device, as are also the black bass, Oswego, yellow, 
white, rock, and all the varieties of lake and river bass. It 
is always dangerous to purchase fish out of season any 
where ; but residents of cities should be esjDecially careful 
who they purchase from, and the safest houses are those which 
deal largely with fishing firms of established reputation. 

Teeth of fishes appear destined more especially for laying 
hold and detaining their prey than for chewing. With this 
view they are bent inward, like tenter-hooks, so that fishes, 
howsoever small and slippery, are forced back into the gul- 
let, and their escape or return prevented. It is no doubt 
with the same design that the throats of many fish are stud- 
ded with what M. Bory St. Vincent terms a pavement of 
teeth. Such fishes as have teeth thus placed far back on the 
palate and upper part of the throat, while in their jaws they 
have none, are termed by anglers "leather-mouthed," but 
technically malacostomata. 

Anglers of the British Isles reckon among the principal of 
leather -mouthed fishes the minnow, gudgeon, roach, loach, 
bleak, chub, daces, barbel, bream, rud, tench, carp, and other 
minor fishes. The salmon and the pike have teeth in the 
jaws and in all parts of the mouth, and the perch in all parts 
of the mouth except the tongue. The sturgeon and sucker, 
again, have no teeth whatever. 



Bony aotd Leather Mouths. 35 

The division of anglers' fishes into snch as are and such as 
are not leather-mouthed may be important to the young an- 
gler, as different management is required in playing each. 
Old anglers considered such fishes leather-mouthed as have 
their teeth in the throat. Hooks seldom part their hold from 
the mouths of such fishes, which are not generally regarded 
as gamy, though good sport for ladies and youth. But the 
contrary is the case with the striped bass, squeteague, pick- 
erel, maskinonge, perch, and most game fishes which are 
white-meated. These have a bony mouth, and not much 
flesh or skin to hold a hook; therefore you are never sure 
of landing these fish unless you play them so lightly as not 
to permit them a foot of slack line, except, perchance, they 
have gorged the hook. 

That water-grasses and some other plants are partly the 
food of leather-mouthed fishes, especially of the carp genus, 
is unquestionable ; and in the Orient herbivorous fishes are 
considered the most delicate and highly prized. But when 
they feed on liver, brewers' grains, boiled barley, split peas, 
and the like, they probably mistake these for the eggs or co- 
coons of water animals, inasmuch as they could not procure a 
supply of these except by rare accident. That some fish may 
feed on the seeds of such plants as are scattered about the 
water is not improbable, and it may have been from observ- 
ing this that it is recommended by Lebault and Debraw, aft- 
er removing the fish to let fish-ponds dry, to sow them with 
oats or other grain, and, when it is ripe, to let the water 
again into the pond, and bring back the fish to feed. Bowlker 
remarks that carp will eat barley, wheat, or oaten bread, 
while tench and perch will not touch it. Of course perch 
prefer meats to vegetable diet ; but as the tench differs with 
the carp upon vegetable diet, both being vegetarians, it 
proves that fishes have discriminative tastes. 

Most leather-mouthed fishes like both vegetable and ani- 
mal diet, and the carp is said to devour young eels, frog- 
spawn, fish-roe, and young fishes, including its own species, 



36 Fishing in American "Waters. 

as well as water insects, which are the staple food of every 
kind of fish from the minnow to the salmon ; every thing that 
lives and moves being swallowed without — so far as has been 
found — any discrimination of species or much nicety of se- 
lection. 

SECTION SIXTH. 

ON SMELL IN FISHES. 

Smelling in land animals is immediately connected with 
breathing, and we can not easily conceive how smell is pro- 
duced except by a current of air, in which odoriferous parti- 
cles are diffused, passing through a moistened channel, as was 
so admirably described by Schneider two hundred years ago ; 
but in fishes which do not breathe, smell can not be thus pro- 
duced, though there can be no doubt of their being endowed 
with this sense. Water, indeed, is as good a medium for dif- 
fusing odors as air, and there is the less necessity for a cur- 
rent of this being produced through the nostrils, as fish move 
about so constantly through the water. Their nostrils, there- 
fore, are generally large, but imperforate backward ; that is, 
they do not communicate with the throat ; but in some fishes, 
such as rays and sharks, the nostril opens by a considerable 
space into the mouth, and through this a current of water 
may probably run. M. Dumeril and the Rev. W. B. Daniell 
think that, from the structure of the nostril and the want of 
an aerial medium for odors, fishes can not smell at all, and 
that their nostrils perform a function similar to taste ; but to 
a late professor of zoology in King's College, London, this 
supposition appears improbable. From all that I have, dis- 
covered, I feel confident that a majority of anglers and men 
of science believe that smell in fishes is quite palpable. Smell- 
ing substances for enticing fish to the hook are recommended 
by too many honorable names to leave a shadow of doubt 
upon the subject. Walton, for example, recommends numer- 
ous strong-smelling pastes for attracting fish to the bait, stat- 
ing that " old Oliver Henley, now with God, a noted fisher 



Composition Baits. 37 

both for trout and salmon," contended in favor of acuteness 
in the smell of fishes. In an old volume on " The Secrets of 
Angling," by J. Davors, published in 1813, I find the fol- 
lowing : 

"To bless thy bait and make the fish to bite, 
Lo ! here's a means, if thou canst hit it right : 
Take gum of life, well beat and laid to soak 
In oil well drawn of ivy which kills the oak. 
Fish where thou wilt, thou shalt have sport thy fill ; 
When others fail, thou shalt be sure to kill." 

M. Chars, who was apothecary to Louis XIV., composed a 
perfume which attracted all kinds of fresh-water fishes by the 
use of cat's fat, heron's grease, the best asafoetida, Egyptian 
mummy finely powdered, aniseed, camphor, galbanum, Ven- 
ice turpentine, and civet. These he made into the consist- 
ence of thin ointment by means of oil of lavender, of aniseed, 
and camomile, which may be preserved for a year or two if 
kept where the air is excluded. The bait and about eight 
inches of line are directed to be anointed with this to attract 
fish. 

Of the numerous scented baits recommended,Walton wrote 
in favor of petroleum, and Daniell suggested that tar is most 
attractive in the composition of a scented ointment for bait. 
But the most fascinating of such pastes for fresh-water fishes is 
that composed of the roe of salmon ; and I should be opposed 
to its use if millions of salmon-eggs were not annually wasted 
along most of the salmon rivers ; and it is to be hoped that, 
by the means of science, some successful theory may soon be 
adopted for turning this seed into the waters to restock them, 
for it is morally revolting to an angler to contemplate the 
great loss by the depletion of the waters from the waste of 
ova. While the wholesale waste continues, those who desire 
to make bait from the roe of fishes should sprinkle it with 
salt, and then put it down in a pot in alternate layers with 
wool. Rev. W. B. Daniell advised the taking of a pound of 
roe in September, and, after boiling it fifteen minutes, beat it 
in a mortar until sufficiently mixed with an ounce of salt and 



38 Fishing in American Waters. 

an ounce of saltpetre, the membrane in which the spawn is 
contained being carefully picked out; it is then packed in 
jars and covered closely ; in that way it will keep good for 
many months. 

It is suggested that roe of other fishes would do as well as 
that of salmon — such as herrings, because the smell, which 
seems the chief attraction, is quite similar. A paste made in 
the same way from shelled shrimps is also attractive. Mus- 
sels and putrid meat attract eels, obviously in consequence 
of their odor. 

Independently of these and all other ascertained facts re- 
specting smell in fishes, the anatomy of the head pi*oves that 
the nerves of smell are large, and thus establish conclusively 
the fact that fishes are gifted with the sense of smell. 

SECTION SEVENTH. 

ON HEARING IN PISHES. 

Fishes hear; Of this I feel quite sure, without the story 
of Amphion and the Dolphins, or of the auld Scottish harper 
Glenkindie, who — as related in verse — " harped a fish out o' 
the sa't water." 

iElian tells us that the chad is allured by the sound of 
castanets, and in Germany they take these fishes with nets 
to which bows of wood hung with little bells are attached 
in such maimer as to chime in harmony when the nets are 
moved. These fish, it is stated, will not attempt to escape 
while the bells continue to ring. On the Continent of Eu- 
rope people are in the habit of calling the gold fishes, as well 
as other fishes in ponds, to be fed at the sound of a bell. 

Professor Bradley states that in Rotterdam, at a preserve 
of carps owned by Mr. Eden, he saw them fed. " The gen- 
tleman having filled his pocket with spinach-seed, conducted 
me to the side of the moat, where we stood mute for some 
time, the better to convince me that the fish would not come 
until called. At length he called in his usual way, and im- 
mediately the fish gathered together from all parts of the 



Fishes have sensitive Eaks. 39 

pond in such numbers that there was scarcely room for them 
to lie by one another, and then he threw some spinach-seed 
among them, which they devoured very greedily. This sat- 
isfied me that fishes have the sense of hearing." Sir Walter 
Rogers, an English gentleman, had a pond of pikes which 
members of his household called together at pleasure ; and as 
carnivorous fishes are more wild and untamable than are 
those which feed on herbs, it offers the most palpable proof 
that fishes hear, 

M. Lebault advises fish culturists not to permit shooting 
about the ponds for wild-fowl, etc., as it frightens, injures, 
and destroys the fish. This opinion is also entertained by 
celebrated physiologists ; and John Hunter, who describes the 
ear of fishes — always, he says, important — as consisting of a 
gristly substance, very hard and firm in parts, and in some 
species crusted over with a thin plate of bone, so as not to 
permit it to collapse. The ear of fishes he also remarked to 
possess the singular peculiarity of increasing with the size 
of the individual, whereas in quadrupeds it is nearly as large 
in the young as in the full-grown animal. 

" When in Portugal," said Dr. Hunter," in 1762, 1 observed 
in a nobleman's garden near Lisbon a small fish-pond full 
of different kinds of fishes. Its bottom was level with the 
ground, and was made by forming a bank all round, with a 
shrubbery close to it. While lying on the bank seeing the 
fish, I desired a gentleman who was my companion to go be- 
hind the shrubs (that there be no reflection from the flash) 
and fire his gun. The moment the report was made the fish 
seemed universally affected, for they vanished immediately, 
raising, as it were, a cloud of mud from the bottom. In 
about five minutes afterward they began to appear and 
swim about as before." 

The discussions of Dr. Munro, Geoffroi, Comparetti, Scarpa, 
Weber, and De Blainville, may be referred to, as their works 
fully settle the question in favor of hearing in fishes. Weber 
discovered a communication between the ear in fishes and 



40 



Fishing in American Waters. 



the swim-bladder, the air contained in which is probably af- 
fected by sound; and De Blainville expresses his astonish- 
ment at the magnitude of their nerves of hearing. 

It is superfluous to multiply examples of fishes coming 
when called by a whistle or a bell. I have frequently called 
them to me by whistling for them at various fountains and 
ponds in France, where the chief of the Fisheries Commis- 
sion, M. Coste, is stated not only to contend that all fishes 
hear, but that some of them talk ! From all the evidence 
pro and con, I am convinced that fishes possess the sense of 
hearing. 




Large and anxious Families. 41 



CHAPTER n. 

FECUNDITY OF FISHES. 

Fikst. Mammalia, including whales, porpoises, and all fish- 
es which bring forth alive and suckle their young, whether 
herbivorous or carnivorous, seldom have more than one or 
two young at a birth, which sailors term calves. 

Second. The families of'which the salmon and trout are 
the heads are called by naturalists the genus Salmo. These 
fishes have the palpable mark of an adipose second dorsal 
fin ; their meat is of a tint between mallow and pink, and 
they are regarded by anglers and epicures as the highest 
game and most luxurious fishes of the oviparous class, or 
those fishe& which replenish their species by laying eggs, 
which are vivified by the milt of the male, and then, after a 
time, the eggs hatch in the water. This process is common 
to all egg-laying fishes ; but, while eggs of the salmo genus 
require from three to four months to hatch, those of the clu- 
pea genus hatch in as many days. Seth Green hatched shad 
artificially on the Connecticut River within forty hours from 
the time the ova and milt fell into the hatching-boxes in the 
stream — being the main current of the river — and not in 
boxes so placed as that a stream should run through or over 
them, but anchored so as to float in the current of the river, 
submerging a sufficient portion of them for keeping the eggs 
covered with water to a sufficient depth. A salmon is sup- 
posed to lay a thousand eggs for every pound the mother 
fish weighs, consequently they average from ten to thirty 
thousand for each pair. 

Third. Included in this class are all the oviparous tribes 
but those of the genus Salmo. The number of eggs in the 



42 Fishing m American Waters. 

roe of some of these fishes is so great as to appear almost in- 
credible. While the carp and the sturgeon produce from, 
half a million to a million and a half, the celebrated Dutch 
naturalist Leuwenhoeck reckoned that the codfish contains 
over nine millions of eggs. This estimate was based upon 
weighing accurately a small part of the roe and counting the 
eggs, then weighing the remainder, and estimating the whole 
from the part counted. Without doubt the fecundity of all 
the food-fishes of the sea is beyond human estimate ; so that, 
if all the spawn should be fructified by the male fishes, the 
vast body of fishes would, within a few years, become too 
great for the waters to contain. 

SECTION SECOND. 
voracity of fishes. 

The innumerable shoals of young fishes constitute the chief 
part of the food for larger ones, and even those full grown 
often meet in fierce combat, when the one which has the 
widest throat comes ofi" victorious by swallowing his oppo- 
nent. Fish, being cold-blooded animals, are not susceptible 
to an acute sense of pain ; thus it does not hurt an eel much 
to be skinned, and a shark has been observed to seek prey for 
some time after he was split open and entirely eviscerated. 
The prettiest and most playful of fishes, almost domesticated 
in private ponds, do not fail occasionally to devour such 
members of their own family as venture near enough. Sir 
William Jardine states that "the lake trout are very rapa- 
cious, and, after attaining the weight of three or four pounds, 
feed almost exclusively on small fish, not sparing even their 
own young." 

This being true of the finny tribes generally, how malapro- 
pos is the sympathy extended for them by good souls who 
do not understand the savage character of the objects of their 
solicitude. Such was the poet Dr. Walcott, author of the fol- 
lowing verses : 



Cruelty of Fishes. 43 

"Why flyest thou away with fear? 
Trust me, there's naught of danger near : 

I have no wicked hook, 
All covered with a smarting bait, 
Alas ! to tempt thee to thy fate, 

And drag thee from the brook. 
Oh harmless tenant of the flood, 
I do not wish to spill thy blood ; 
' ' For nature unto thee 

Perchance has given a tender wife, 
And children dear, to charm thy life, 

As she hath done to me. • 
Enjoy thy stream, oh harmless fish, 
And when an angler, for his dish, 

Through gluttony's vile sin 
Attempts — a wretch — to pull thee out, 
God give thee strength, oh gentle trout, 

To pull the rascal in!" 

Instances are common of fishes following a hooked one, and, 
while it is being played by the angler, biting pieces out of 
it, and sometimes swallowing it, so that both are landed. It 
may be readily inferred from this that small fish form at- 
tractive bait. Fish evince no mercy for any living thing 
which inhabits the waters, and most of the angler's fishes 
feed readily on their own broods. As fish are generally at- 
tracted by the sight or smell of blood, red feathers, burnt 
avooI, and scarlet braid, etc., are found to fascinate them when 
attached to trolls ; especially is this proven to be the case 
in trolling for bluefish, black bass, and maskinonge. 

I therefore conclude that, as the principal food of all fishes 
consists of animals and animalculse, with water-insects, and 
the spawn deposited in the waters, these last seeming to form 
the dainties most eagerly sought by them, so the unlimited 
voracity of fishes, which has no counterpart in any other 
branch of animal creation, may be one of the means wisely 
ordered to check an excessive multiplication ; and that their 
extraordinary fecundity is probably a provision of nature for 
supplying an adequate amount of food, upon the same prin- 
ciple that land insects are so greatly multiplied probably for 
supplying food to birds. 



44 Fishing in American Waters. 

SECTION THIRD. 

TIMES OP FEEDING AND HAUNTS OF FISHES. 

Most fish are said to be night-feeders, yet all of them feed 
more or less in daytime. Like spiders, all of which feed in 
the night, and are tempted to come abroad when the weather 
is so cloudy as to resemble twilight, so also the fishes,. with 
this farther peculiarity, that a turbid state of the water from 
recent rains may so dim the light that they will bite when 
the sun shines brightly. 

When the weather is bright and the water clear, most 
fishes keep their places of retirement, some among reeds and 
other water-plants, some under banks or ledges of rock, lurk- 
ing in deeper and deeper water as the weather becomes 
warmer, so that the feeding-level for lake trout, which is often 
from four to eight feet in early spring, is found from fifty to 
a hundred feet below the surface in July and August. River 
fishes seek the shade of ovf rhanging trees ; some under 
stones ; some squatting close to the ground over springs, 
sand, or in the sludge at the bottom of the water. In differ- 
ent waters, however, there are peculiarities of currents, ed- 
dies, and pools that fish are fond of haunting, concerning 
which no practical rule of general utility can be laid down. 
Waters, to be most successfully fished, must be first under- 
stood by fishing them. 

STRENGTH AND PROPULSIVE POWER. 

The true indication of a fish's strength is found in the 
shape of its head and shoulders back to the first dorsal fin, 
while its speed or propulsive power is shown by its shape 
from the front of the second dorsal and anal fins to the end 
of the tail, and the shape of this caudal continuation. Of the 
forked-tail, it has already been remai-ked that the swordfish 
and salmon are supposed to be the most rapid swimmers, 
while of the squai'e-tails the brook trout and squeteague are 
supposed to propel with the greatest velocity. Among fishes 



Peofessoe Boeelli's Expeeiments. 45 

which unite the greatest velocity with the gi'eatest degree of 
strength must be reckoned the whale ; for, struck with a har- 
poon or spear with a line attached, the leviathan of the waters 
darts down into the deep with such velocity that if the line 
were to entangle it would either be broken or the boat would 
be capsized. Upon the act of striking a whale, therefore, one 
man is stationed to give his whole attention to the line run- 
ning off clear, while another is employed to pour water con- 
tinually on the wood over which the line runs, to prevent ig- 
nition by friction. The angler knows that the sheepshead 
has this power of diving with the velocity of lightning ; so 
have all fishes which are swift and wide compared to their 
length. In diving or darting upward, the swim-bladder is a 
great assistance, as it is found to be compressed while the 
fish is at the bottom, and expanded when the fish is on the 
surface of the water. Probably the salmon and the bluefish 
unite the greatest amount of muscular strength to the great- 
est power of propulsion. Other fishes of our coast, such as 
the Spanish mackerel, bonetta, cerus, and the horse mackerel, 
add to the muscularity of the salmon and bluefish the propul- 
sive power of the swordfish and the dolphin. The pectorals, 
ventrals, and anal fins assist the fish in maintaining its bal- 
ance or level position of body. In experimenting upon the 
use of fins, Professor Borelli, of Naples, ascertained that after 
clipping off the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins of fishes, all 
their motions became unsteady, and they reeled from right to 
left, and up and down, in such irregular manner as to prove 
that they were left at the mercy of their voracious neighbors 
of the deep. 



46 



Fishing in Ameeican Watees. 



CHAPTER m. 

COAST AND ESTUAEY FISHES. 

As the fishes of the Atlantic coast of North America, in- 
cluding those of the estuaries and tidal waters which debouch 
along our coast, are more numerous, and include a greater va- 
riety for both the angler and the commercial fisherman than 
do the finny tribes of the coasts of any other country, and as 
nearly every American angler of a tidal river regards the 
striped bass as the fish of fishes par excellence to be angled 
for, I trust that I shall be pardoned for placing this beauty 
first on the list, and showing some of the artistic ways for 
taking him. 




The Striped Bass. 



This fish, so beautiful and gamesome, is peculiar to the 
tidal waters and estuaries of the rivers which empty on the 
coast of the Atlantic from Portland to Norfolk. The stripeft 
bass is known farther north and south, but it exists in the 
most perfect state in the rivers and along the coast between 
the points named. It affords good sport with light tackle 
when its weight is but half a pound ; and it tries both the 
metal and skill of an angler after it rises to the ponderous 
importance of ten pounds, though it is said to attain to the 



Appearance and Habits op Steiped Bass. 47 

weight of nearly a hundred. I have captured hut one which 
weighed over forty pounds, although I have angled for them 
every season for the past thirty years. It is great game 
when weighing any where from ten to thirty pounds. In 
muscular power the striped bass equals the salmon, hut it 
lacks the caudal power for leaping, which is so palpable in 
the form of a salmon, back of its adipose fin, including its 
crescent-shaped tail. 

This fish is known south of New Jersey as the rockfish ; 
but as no two ichthyologists agree upon a classical name for 
the fish, it had probably best be called the name by which it 
is known where the greatest numbers are taken, and there it 
is known only as the steiped bass ; and as there is no other 
fish which at all resembles it, there is no chance of mistake. 
It approximates the Perca genus, the front dorsal fin being 
composed of seven spinous or spiked rays, and having two 
nearly concealed spines. Its scales are rather large, and of 
metallic lustre; gill-covers serrated and edges sharp. The 
color of the back is a blending of black, blue, and green, light- 
ing to bluish-gray at the sides, and to a satin white belly. 
The longitudinal stripes are usually seven or eight in number, 
and are like narrow black braids, sparkling with silver or 
diamonds and emerald. Its symmetry, marks, and satin sheen 
render it one Of the most picturesque and interesting fishes in 
the world, independent of its great game, generous play, and 
luxury as a dinner fish. 

The striped bass is eminently domestic in his habits. He 
is not given to wandering or vagrancy. He is generally to 
be found at home and in good condition. The female de- 
posits her eggs in fresh and brackish waters, but never in the 
sea. In November the bass shoal and congregate in brackish 
water-ponds, or back waters of tidal rivers, or in the bays and 
bayous of rivers which have an outlet to the sea, after which 
time it will not take bait until the following spring, after 
having spawned and returned to active waters. The ponds 
formed by the back water of the Seconnet River were, a few 



48 Fishing in American Waters. 

winters since, so full of striped bass that the fish were dis- 
covered by their dorsal fins in the ice, where they had been 
frozen by too close packing. The ice was cut, and hundreds 
of cart-loads were pitched out with forks and taken to 
market. 

Striped bass will live and increase when confined to fresh 
water, but its shape then becomes changed, and instead of its 
symmetry and lustre when having access to both fresh and 
salt waters, it becomes more chubbed, and its colors less scin- 
tillant. This I discovered in those I took in the upper part 
of Lake Ontario, and it corroborates the opinion which I have 
heard expressed by other anglers and fish-culturists. 

These fish delight in rocky shoals, among which they flap 
their tails and rub their scales as they prospect for c?iistacea, 
of which shedder and soft-shell crabs they consider great del- 
icacies. Their great power and swiftness enable them to for- 
age with impunity for disabled menhaden, spearing, shrimp, 
crabs, shedder lobsters, etc., among the breakers, as they lash 
and lave the rocky shores of our coast ; and it is at such 
times, when the sea is agitated, that casting for them from 
the rocks with rod, and reel, and menhaden bait, that the 
sport is rendered more pleasingly exciting and attractive 
than angling for any other game fish. 

The angler pursues many methods for capturing this beau- 
ty of the estuary, the chief of which are still-baiting from an 
anchored boat along the edge of the tide, trolling with live 
squid (small cuttle-fish), and casting with menhaden bait — but 
without sinker — into the surf of a rocky beach, along the 
shores and islands from New York to Martha's Vineyard. 

SECTION SECOND. 

angling foe striped bass. 

In order that the reader may proximately realize the chai'- 

acter of the striped bass as a game fish, I propose taking him 

with me on several excursions after the lustrous beauty. 

And, first, we will try him in the vicinity of New York. The 



Effects of an easterly Westd. 49 

weather and tide are favorable, and the moon is right for giv- 
ing lish an excellent appetite and great activity. Fishes in 
waters near the ocean bite best in the first quarter of the 
moon, while those which are up rivers and creeks, near fresh 
water, bite best at full tides, and immediately after a " nor'- 
easter," when the wind, having backed round by the south, 
has settled in the northwest. You may prove these facts 
without going a dozen miles from the metropolis ; and I have 
always noticed that it is better fishing in " the Kills" and at 
the hedges of Newark Bay, as well as at those in the lower 
part of the Bay of New York, when the tide is low, while the 
fishing at King's Bridge and Spuyten Duyvel is best at very 
high tides. The only exce]Dtion to this rule is applicable to 
reefs and low rocky shoals, where bass forage most during 
high tides. 

As we are to try the bass to-morrow, suppose we make a 
day of it ? Well, that being agreed to, we will first try Har- 
lem River, or the creek at King's Bridge. Being an angler, 
you of course know that the baits here are confined to shrimp 
early in spring and late in autumn ; to soft-shell and shedder 
crab in the summer and until the middle of October ; after 
which soft-shell clam for the English Neighborhood Bridge, 
and shrimp, with an occasional shedder lobster, serve as baits 
in the vicinity of New York, except for trolling in Hell Gate, 
where we use squid ; and for fishing in the surf at Newport, 
and along the coast generally, the menhaden is preferred. 
Shad roe is frequently recommended for bass bait. I once 
tried it at Saybrook, near the mouth of the Connecticut Riv- 
er, where the bass were said to bite it unconditionally ; but, 
though I stood on the platform and fished from it, I did not 
capture a single fish. It was not because the bass did not 
like the bait, but rather that the great depth of water and 
strength of tide obliged me to fish with a heavy tracing 
sinker, and the fish stole my bait before it settled on the bot- 
tom, because I was not prepared with the means of porous 
muslin wherein to tie the bait over the hook. I have never 

D 



50 



Fishing est American Waters. 



tried the bait since, and though it is very attractive, it is un- 
pleasant to use. The thousands of barrels of shad cured 
there every shad season, when the roe is thrown into the 
river, attracts myriads of striped bass every May and June, 
causing a regret that Seth Green could not use the roe of 
this delicious esculent for restocking the river as he does at 
Holyoke. 

Of course tackle is of the utmost importance. As we are 
to angle for small bass, with crab and shrimp bait, we will 
rig light, and as represented by the following engraving : 




Tackle for taking Small Bass. 

A. Solid Cork-float. B. Swivel Sinker. C. Piece of the top of Rod, showing the 
double guides ; on one side bell-metal, and the other agate. D. Agate or Carneli- 
-an tip to screw into the top of the rod. E. Upper Hook, rigged a foot above the oth- 
' er hook for shrimp. F. Lower Hook, for baiting with shedder crab. G, H. Single- 
gut Leader. I. Line ; of either linen twisted or silk braided ; very small, no larger 
than for trout, but from 300 to 400 feet in length. 

The reel should be a multiplier, without any stop, check, 
or drag ; it should be of brass, German silver, or bell-metal, 
run on steel or agate pivots, and with a balance crank. 

The rod for this style of fishing should be from 9 to 11 



Angling at King's Bkidge. 51 

feet long, bearing in mind that a short, stiff rod is the best 
to cast with, but not so good to play a fish with light run- 
ning-tackle. Of course the size of float and weight of sinker 
will be changed to suit the waters and the tides. 

' ' See that all things be right, 
For 'twould be a spite 
To want tools when a man goes a-fishing." — Cotton. 

You perceive that I have selected one hook with an 
O'Shaughnessy bend (E), and the other (F) an Aberdeen. 

"Well, brother angler, a night of sound sleep, and our in- 
comparable breakfast at the Astor, with our drive over the 
Bloomingdale Road this beautiful morning, has so enlivened 
me to a sense of the beautiful that I feel assured we shall 
have good sport to-clay, and enjoy it. This is King's Bridge, 
the name of the most spicy and succulent oyster that ever 
graced the cuisine of a Dorlon. Our horse will be well cared 
for at this hotel, for the host — an admirable caterer — appre- 
ciates angless. 

We will first see what sjjort there is to be had at the east 
bridge, where we will joint our rods, and rig sinkers and floats 
according to the movement of the tide. I perceive that the 
tide is just on the turn to flood. Rig light for half an hour, 
and then change to heavier sinker and larger float. I like 
bridge fishing, for, after making a cast, you may humor your 
line so as to lead the bait in the most angling manner from 
current to current ; and then, in striking at a bite forty yards 
off, there is so much sport in playing your fish until you get 
him into the slack water formed by the piers of the bridge ; 
and, being from 8 to 10 feet above the water, you generally 
fasten the fish at the first bite. Strike ! You've hooked him ! 
There ! give him play, but feel his weight, and make him con- 
tend for every foot of line you give him, or he will take the 
whole without exhausting himself, and you will lose him. 
Do not permit him to run back on you, for that is a favorite 
dodge of these striped sides to get slack line, and enable them 
to dislodge the hook. Keep your rod up nearly perpendicu- 



52 Fishing in American Waters. 

lar, giving him the benefit of its spring, for he is bony-mouth- 
ed, though the teeth in his upper jaw are too small and short 
to bite or even chafe ofi a silk-worm gut snell. Keep your 
fish out of the swiftest of the tide, and, after playing him un- 
til he succumbs from exhaustion, land him on the shore, for 
he is too heavy to lift upon the bridge. Well done ! Now 
bait quickly and cast for another. You perceive that at the 
foot of the rapid tide the bass lie in wait for bait, for our 
floats dip at that place. But the fish move away from there 
after the tide gets running its full strength, and an hour is all 
of first-rate fishing we may expect in one tide, therefore it is 
necessary to be active in baiting and expert at casting and 
playing a fish, always using shriinp on the upper hook and 
shedder on the lower one, when you use two baits at a time 
in this style of fishing. Now, as the tide has become too 
swift for float-fishing, just step into this boat, and we will row 
down to the first island in the creek, seventy-five rods beyond 
the west bridge, and try Spuyten Duyvel Creek. The fish 
are smaller here, but they bite more generously. I took 174 
here in one day, and yet Judge Brevoort, my companion, 
beat me by one fish. See ! one on each hook at every cast ! 
Say you not that angling for small bass with light tackle 
forms a pleasing excitement ? Well, having fished out the 
tide, suppose we return to the hotel and take our vehicle for 
home ? This place is accessible by public conveyances over 
several routes, but as it is only eleven miles from the City 
Hall, I prefer to drive out. We have taken between thirty 
and forty bass which scale from half a pound to a pound 
each — only three two-pound fish and one three-pounder ; and 
this may be regarded as an average morning's sport. 

SECTION THIRD. 

TROLLING IN HELL GATE. 

You doubtless perceived, brother angler, that the sport 
which we yesterday enjoyed at King's Bridge might be 
practiced and greatly relished by ladies. Many ladies of 



Angling suited to Ladies. 53 

New York and its suburbs are experts at casting a fly for 
trout or a bait for bass ; and, in my opinion, they lend one 
of the principal charms to ruralizing. I do not like the pent- 
up, hide-bound, cynical geniuses of the Diogenes quality, nor 
yet of those bachelors whose rectangular apartments each 
side of a hall in our hotels are not inappropriately consider- 
ed by some as stalls for the stray oxen of society. I agree 
with Brother Lathy that 

' ' No scenes more suited are to themes of love, 
Than whilst on rivers' banks you fish and rove ; 
T' instruct the fair the happy lover tries, 
And, grateful, she rewards him with her eyes. 
No longer, then, our angling sports disdain, 
Since Venus sprung from Ocean poets feign, 
Rising all beauteous from the briny main : 
As, of our grief, do thou partake our pleasure — 
Our life, our heart, our soul, our earthly treasure !" 

When you decide to troll for a day over the tumultuously- 
seething and hissing waters of Hell Gate, where an oarsman 
must know the tides and shoals to keep his boat right side 
up, you will require heavier tackle, and will therefore select 
them from the plate of " implements for angling in lakes, 
bays, rivers," etc., on the following page. 

Select a rod from 8 to 9 feet long, like A, B, C, in the en- 
graving. Let it taper regularly and be rather heavy. The 
butt and second joint should be made of ash, and the top of 
lancewood. Bell-metal top and guides are best for mount- 
ing a trolling-rod, while agate or carnelian are best for the 
purpose of casting a long distance, as the friction is less on 
jewels than on metals. The guides for all kinds of bass 
angling should be large enough to pass a knot in the line 
through them. In ringing rods for salmon and trout, the 
rings should be diminished in size from butt to tip, as the 
rods taper ; but such is not the case with bass guides, all of 
which should be equal in size and shape, and polished for the 
line to run smoothly. Large guides are a modern invention. 
About ten years ago I was fishing at West Island — that par- 




A,B, C. Butt, middle joint, and top of a Brass Rod. D. Baiting Needle. E. Sinker 
for trolling with squid. F. Gaff for large bass, four inches across the bend. G. Oval 
Tracing Sinker, with hole through centre. H. Swivel Sinker. I. Pivot multiplying 
Reel, with balance crank. J. Brass Swivel, for fishing on the bottom with tracing 
sinker. K. Wedge, to fasten trolling sinker E for the "different lengths of squid. L. 
Loop above sinker E, to which the line is attached; length optional. M. Heavy 
Hook for trolling. N. Kingrish Hook ; small, strong, welllempered, Sproat's bend. 
O. Scap-net for catching shrimp, or, with larger meshes, a landing-net. No.l. Shank- 
bended Hook, with line fastened by three half hitches to angle "for, or cast into the 
surf for large striped bass. 2 and 3. Smaller sizes, for casting menhaden bait, or 
still-baiting^with heavy tracing sinker. 4. Kinsey bend, or Pennsylvania Hook. 5. 
O'Shaughhessy bend. 6. Sproat's bend. 7 and 8. Kendal Hooks. 



How to Squid a Hook. 55 

adise of the bass angler — when one morning I was awakened 
from my early slumbers by the loud calls of Hosier, my gaff- 
er, who had tried a cast with one of my rods from the Table 
Rock, and, in casting, had thrown a knot in the line about 
thirty feet from the reel ; and, as the guides were too small 
to pass the knot, Mosier, to prevent the fish from getting 
slack line, ran back as the fish came toward shore, and ran - 
forward when the fish carried off too much line, calling lusti- 
ly for me as he ran backward and forward in great excite- 
ment. I finally relieved him of the rod in. due time, and he 
gaffed the bass, which weighed twenty-two pounds. Since 
then I have all guides made large enough to pass a small 
pea. Double guides are best, unless you have Pritchard's 
patent guides, which turn on a fixed metallic band. It is al- 
ways best to disjoint a rod when done fishing for the day, 
and then change the sides of the* two upper joints every day, 
as it prevents the rod from warping or setting. 

The reel, like I, should carry 600 feet of hawser-laid linen , 
line, of from twelve to fifteen threads, thus rendering it about 
the size of a fine salmon line ; but the line should be free from 
any oily composition, and a dip in dye to give it a greenish 
shade is beneficial. Never, by any chance, use a check reel 
for coast or estuary fishing. Depend on the pressure of your 
thumb for checking the fish, and wear knitted thumb-stalls. 

Hooks like M, with taper shank and loop of linen line, the 
came size as that on the reel, extending six inches beyond 
the end of the shank. Place your squid along the hook so 
that the extreme bend of the hook will be opposite its eyes, 
when slide up sinker on loop E toward L until the sinker is 
even with the other end of the squid. By this process your 
tackle will fit your squid. Then fasten E to its place by K ; 
hook the squid back of its mouth, running the point forward, 
and turning it down so as to bring the point out between the 
eyes ; attach loop L to the baiting-needle ; draw the sinker up 
through the ink-sack, or body, and attach the loop to the end 
of the reel-line, and you will be ready to commence trolling. 



56 Fishing in American Wateks. 

Those who employ a man to row and gaff the fish would 
do well to direct him to squid half a dozen hooks before start- 
ing, and lay them aside in the boat under some wet rock-weed 
before leaving shore. If you have ever been trolling — as I 
have — when large bass were biting generously, you will real- 
ize the force of this advice. It is unpleasant to be trolling 
in rough waters, and, when a bass strikes the back of your 
hook and takes your bait without fastening, to be obliged to 
stop and squid a hook before proceeding. 

Now for the fray ! Our boats are made by Hughes, fellow- 
apprentice of George Steers; and with Sile Wright and Sandy 
Gibson as guides and gaffers, we shall be sculled over all the 
favorite trolling grounds from the ferry below to the Drowned 
Marsh above Ward's Island. Our first move will be toward 
Tide Rock, swinging Big and Little Mill Rocks on the way ; 
then we shall glide over the Hen and Chickens, swing Holt's 
Rock on the Hog's Back, round Nigger Point, and, stopping at 
John Hilliker's to rest, enjoy a piece of incomparable apple- 
pie and a glass of milk served by two charming ladies. While 
indulging these ruminations one day, as my friend was swing- 
ing* Holt's Rock, he hooked a large bass and played it all the 
way round the east end of Ward's Island to Chowder Eddy, 
where, on landing, it weighed twenty pounds. 

The sketch on the opposite page represents my friend as 
the bass first rose and laid its course. 

I was not so fortunate as my friend ; for, as my squid was 
struck by a large bass, Sile said he heard the rod crack ; but 
the fish made such a long, vigorous run, that I scarcely real- 
ized what he said, and, after turning the fish and reeling him 
in gradually, he broke water with a leap, clearing the surface, 
and revealing a forty-pounder. While turning and bringing 
him toward the boat for the third time, he darted down and 

* Swinging a rock is clone by the oarsman holding the boat sixty feet from 
the rock and swinging it so that the troll will move about the rock on all 
sides and play as if alive. This art is possessed in great perfection by Hell 
Gate oarsmen. 



A Word on Gaffing. 



57 




Fish and Tide Irresistible. 

snapped the middle joint of my rod in two, when I threw the 
broken rod down at my feet and took hold of the line ; the 
fish made but feeble resistance, and I towed him alongside 
the boat and shouted to Sile for the gaff, but he had thought- 
lessly placed it in the other boat. I then endeavored to put 
my hand in his mouth, and, while in the act, the fish turned 
over, breaking the hook and bleeding profusely as he settled 
off into the tide, leaving us astonished and almost desperate. 
On examination, I learned that a flaw in the hook had been 
the cause of our loss of the fish ; but had we rowed ashore 
and towed the fish after the rod broke, we should probably 
have landed him. I have never since been caught trolling or 
angling for large bass without a gaff and tried hooks ; and as 
the gaff is an implement of such high importance, I have given 
the shape and description in another part of this book ; but 
the one shaped like F among the " implements," and from 3 
to 4ijr inches across the bend from point to shank, made with 
a screw to fit into the gaff handle, leaves little to be desired. 
In using it, drop it below the fish, point upward, and as it is 
raised to the fish, the fish settles against it, and a simple jerk 
impales it. Do not strike a fish with the gaff; insert the 



58 Fishing in American Waters. 

gaff gently beneath, and it will be hooked with the utmost 
ease. 

Well, with broken rod and tangled line, I ordered Sile to row 
away from the scene of our misfortune. I found my friend 
at Hammock Rocks, his fish laid out in state on rock-grass, 
and he mutely bending over it with a face radiant with pleas- 
urable satisfaction at his achievement. Trolling, to him, was 
a new-born pleasure^ and his first capture a trophy of which 
a slayer of lions might be justly proud. It would be super- 
fluous to add, we drank to the study for a Stearns or a 
Bracket as it lay shining on the pallet of sea-grass. Sandy 
commiserated Sile's misfortune at losing the large bdss. In 
the centre of a radius containing the most picturesque land- 
scape near the metropolis, we rested, wondered, and admired. 

" The skies their fairest canvas spread 
When the angler goes a-trolling ; 
Relenting clouds float overhead, 
And tears and smiles alternate shed, 

When the angler goes a-trolling. " — Stoddart. 

Having toasted the health and appetite of bass in that 
neighborhood in a glass of sherry, and replaced the broken 
joint of my rod with a sound one, we again seated ourselves 
in our boats, and commenced trolling the Little Gate, the 
Kills, and all about Randall's and Ward's Islands, and, after 
the usual alternatives of hopes, fears, and moments of ecstasy, 
Ave finished up a mess of seven bass between us, the largest 
nearly thirty, and the smallest four pounds in weight. 

Well, having given you a taste of the sport on the waters 
bounding Manhattan Island on the north and east, let us an- 
chor our boat near the lower hedges of New York Bay, and 
learn how different bottom fishing with a tracing sinker is 
from both trolling and angling with a float. 

SECTION FOURTH. 
still-baiting for bass. 
Use a stiffish rod, like A, B, C on the page of implements. 
It should be from eight to nine feet in length. The Japan 



Rig foe Bottom Fishing. 



59 




bamboo pole, being a rod without joints, of the same length, 
and mounted the same, with top and guides of agate or car- 
nelian ; multiplying reel like I, which shall carry from four to 
six hundred feet of fine linen or silk line. Linen is the best 
for bottom fishing, but it should be made of the finest and 
strongest flax or hemp. You may use a double-gut leader, 
three fourths of a yard long, or make a leader from your line, 
which I prefer when bottom fishing for bass ranging from 
three pounds upward ; then one hook only is used. Use a 
tracing sinker in the form of a long roll or cylinder of lead, 
three fourths of an inch in diameter, with a hole for the line 
longitudinal, cutting off the weight required for a sinker ; or 
let it be an oval form, as represented by G, with a swivel to 
stop it at the top end of the leader, like J. The swivel should 
be brass ; all swivels for use in salt water should be brass, 
for steel is soon corroded. Thrust your line through the 
sinker, and attach the end of your line to a swivel, and your 
leader to the other end of the swivel. This leader may be 
either linen or double gut of the silk-worm. If the latter, 
the hook will require tying or winding on with waxed thread ; 
if the former, the hook should be headed like a pin, and the 
line fastened to it by three half hitches, as if for fishing with 
menhaden bait. Shedder or soft-shell crab is preferred for 
bait ; but, if it can not be procured, use shedder lobster. 



IS 



60 Fishing in American Waters. 

Now, having finished our rig, we will cast our anchor here, 
about a hundred feet above the hedge, and fish toward it un- 
til the tide turns, when we will anchor about as far the other 
side of the hedge. These hedges were made to lead shad 
into channels, across which nets were spread, as you perceive 
by the spaces left in the different rows of hedges. I always 
anchor my boat so as to cast at an edge of an opening, or 
channel, through the hedges. Our boat is not so near as to 
alarm the fish, while a gentle cast of seventy-five feet reaches 
them. Make your cast, and let your sinker settle naturally, 
so that your line be straight, when you will feel the slightest 
nibble, though bass generally grab the bait and dash away, 
and, if they feel the hook, continue going until they become 
exhausted, when they rise to the surface,- which is called 
" breaking water." In this act they inhale a little open air 
oxygen, which renders them so gay and sportive as to be 
almost unmanageable. You should therefore always wear 
thumbstalls or cots on the thumb, a neglect of which has 
caused numerous thumbs to be blistered by the friction of 
the line when endeavoring to snub a striped-sided racer, or 
a bluefish, which intrudes as a guerrilla, and, with its steel 
jaws, chops up your tackle and occupies the post with impu- 
nity ; and if perchance you hook a bass, he is sure to liberate 
it in the endeavor to get the bait, by biting the line off be- 
fore the mouth of the bass. Gimp snells are as straw to 
their saw-set teeth, and nothing but piano wire has yet been 
found strong enough to resist their bite. 

There, sir ! When you jerk at a bite like that, reel in the 
slack you have caused, and let your sinker settle so as to 
keep your line straight. Well done ! That fish is game. I 
will i - eel up, or he will cross my line, and, by becoming en- 
tangled, you may lose your fish. After all, he is not so large 
as to require a gaff. It is best to have both a gaff and large 
scap-net in the boat for such fishing. 

Our sport bids fair to-day. We have already taken a 
dozen bass, besides a few squeteague and blackfish, and the 



The Luxury of a Lunch. 61 

tide is not yet full ; but perhaps we had better use the last 
of the flood tide to help us up to the light-house on Ber- 
gen Point Reef, for the best time there is just after the tide 
has turned ebb, when I never failed of an hour's brisk sport. 
Let's, therefore, up with our killick and man the sculls, which, 
with the tide, will caiTy us there in twenty minutes. 

Well, brother angler, our good arms, assisted by the tide, 
have enabled us to arrive in time for me to cast anchor on 
this, my favorite ground. The tide is just high-water slack. 
Our landmarks are righto Let go the anchor. Be seated 
and ready, but do not cast until the boat toles by a decided 
ebb of the tide. In the mean time suppose we lunch ? Now, 
as we enjoy these broiled squab, buttered biscuit, and a mod- 
icum of claret to moisten them, we will feast our eyes upon 
the captivating scenery. Comparatively few understand the 
pleasures of boat fishing. It is removed from the dust and 
hurry-scurry of terra fir-ma. Our position enables us to sur- 
vey several shores and the employments of busy life. What 
can be more lovely on a mild autumn day than scenes like 
these from a boat ? We are near enough to the metropolis 
to hear its noises subdued into a musical monotone. That 
mountain which you perceive at the head of Newark Bay — 
of which we are at the foot — is Snake Hill, at the confluence 
of the waters of the Passaic and the Hackensack, which emp- 
ty at each prong of the fork formed by the head of this 
bay. To the south a few miles you perceive a large city, 
which is Newark. The spires of a town still farther south 
are over Elizabethtown, while two miles south from us is 
Elizabethport. On the Staten Island shore, at the east of us, 
are New Brighton, Factoryville, Port Richmond, and a series 
of buildings and gardens, as a part of the periphery of Staten 
Island. Directly in front of us is Bergen Point, being a gar- 
den charmingly dotted with dwellings of picturesque archi- 
tecture. Do not these scenes present subjects for contempla- 
tion sufficiently enchanting to pay the artist for a visit with- 
out any sporting accessory ? Many innocent persons wonder 



62 Fishing in American Waters. 

how a man can " waste" an occasional day " at the stupid 
s]}ort of angling." These persons do not even know that the 
modern angler is as widely different from the ancient dream- 
er portrayed hy good old Izaak Walton as are percussion 
caps and locomotives from flint-locks and post-coaches. 

The tide here appears to take longer to make a decided 
turn than at any place known by me. We will shed a few 
crabs, as the boat toles nearly right. Notice the landmarks : 
the dock at Bergen Point is in range with the steeple at New 
Brighton ; the south side of the Light-house ranges with the 
high chimney on Staten Island shore. These ranges form the 
angle where our boat rests, a hundred yards west of the 
Light-house, and within casting distance of the submerged 
rocks, seven to the left and five to the right, at the stern of 
our boat. 

Now for commencing. Cast a trifle to the left, and let 
your sinker fall just above the seven rocks, and I will cast 
slightly to the right of the stern, toward the five rocks. 
There ! I told you so ! You can not sink your bait before 
you have a bite. Well, this is sport ! Each of us is either 
playing a bass, landing him, or casting. Under these condi- 
tions, it will depend on the activity in baiting, and dexterity 
in playing and landing our fishes, for deciding which will take 
the greatest number. It is true that they are not large — from 
a pound to two pounds generally, with a three-pounder some- 
times, and a semi-occasional five-pounder ; but it is rare sport, 
for all that. The tide becomes more swift, and our fish are 
harder to play. Deftly and gingerly are the words, while not 
a moment is to be lost. I have angled here and taken bass 
throughout the ebb tide ; but if I take from fifteen to twen- 
ty-five in an hour, I generally become fatigued, and rest the 
pool for some one else. 

You know George Wilkes, of the Spirit ? Well, he and I 
were once still-baiting here, and, as we were about to leave, 
after taking between thirty and forty bass, our line on which 
the fish were strung, and fastened to the thole-pin for keeping 



A MORTIFYING LoSS. 63 

the fish alive in the water, parted as we were in the act of 
lifting the fish into the boat, and we lost nearly all of them. 
The same circumstance happened here while angling with 
George Austin, Esq. Such luck is aggravating to a common 
man, but an angler soon learns that effects follow causes. If 
you prefer to keep your mess alive, either tow a fish-car at 
the stern of your row-boat for placing them in, or deposit 
them in a net fastened to a thole-pin, or purchase the new in- 
vention of a string made of raw-hide by Andrew Clerk & Co. 

It is time for us to reel up and count our mess, for we have 
tide enough left to float us to New Brighton, where we hired 
the boat in the morning. Your count says twenty-seven 
fish. Well, that is an average take. We will unjoint our 
rods, place them in their cases, take up anchor, and you may 
light a regalia, while we enjoy the enlivening scenes along 
Kill Van Kull on our row to the landing. This is the be- 
witching time for driving along the cornice road of Staten 
Island ; and that couple which you now see in a buggy oppo- 
site us think that driving a fast horse on a dusty road is fa- 
mous sport. See the cavalcade of roadsters stirring up the 
dust ! Coaches with liveried drivers and footmen are not 
rare, and the outriders will come next. But we are at New 
Brighton, our fish are. basketed, and our boat returned. We 
will now step on board the steam ferry-boat for New York, 
which stops here every fifteen minutes. 

Our sail across the Bay of New York to the Battery, you 
perceive, is a continuation of the enlivening local and aquatic 
views which have blessed our eyes throughout the clay. 

We must part now with a shake of the hand. Your steam- 
ship is to leave at noon to-morrow, and the engagements of 
which I spoke to you may prevent me from bidding you bon 
voyage on the deck of the vessel which is to convey you to 
home and happiness in one of the British Isles. May the 
blessings which iisually accompany true sportsmen be with 
you ; and when thinking of this land of long rivers and broad 
lands, I trust that you will not forget the slight taste of sport 



64 Fishing in American Waters. 

which you have experienced in the immediate vicinity of 
New York, but that it will prove a foretaste of a whole sea- 
son to be hereafter enjoyed in angling and trolling for the 
game fishes of our coast and estuaries. 

SECTION FIFTH. 
CASTING bait for striped bass. 

Casting menhaden bait for striped bass from the rocky 
shores of the bays, estuaries, and islands along the Atlantic 
coast constitutes the highest branch of American angling. 
It is indeed questionable — when considering all the elements 
which contribute toward the sum total of sport in angling — 
whether this method of striped bass fishing is not superior 
to fly-fishing for salmon, and if so, it outranks any angling 
in the world. The method is eminently American, and char- 
acteristic of the modern angler by its energy of style, and 
the exercise and activity necessary to success. 

Reels for this kind of fishing have taxed the ingenuity of 
the best fishing-tackle makers in the Union. The balance 
crank should be designed with the greatest nicety of propor- 
tions, to prevent a momentum hard to check with the thumb, 
and still the crank should not be so short as to be difficult in 
reeling. The crank should also be placed so far back and 
low on the end of the reel as not to endanger the fingers of 
the angler by a sudden strike of a heavy fish, for a bass does 
not, like the salmon, stop to study the cause of a pain in the 
jaw, but straightway makes a run without hesitation. The 
best materials for reels are supposed to be German silver, 
brass, or bell-metal. The wheels should run on jewels, and 
be so covered with an inner case as to protect them from 
salt water. The reel should not- be too long ; the one repre- 
sented on the plate of bassing implements indicates the shape. 
It should be a triple multiplier, without check or drag, and 
large enough to carry from two to three hundred yards of 
fine linen line. 

Lines should either be of linen or hemp, hawser-laid, or of 



.Ready foe the Gaff. 



65 





braided silk. The latter is the easiest to cast, but not so 
good to fasten a fish by a strike, because of its elasticity, 
while a linen one will respond at a hundred yards to the 
slightest strike. A linen line, formed of from twelve to / 
eighteen strands, and strong enough to sustain a dead weight 

E 



66 Fishing est American Waters. 

of thirty pounds, should be stained to the color of the water, 
when it forms the best line possible for this kind of fishing, 
and it should not be larger than a salmon line. The buoyancy 
of the water, strength of tide, and dash of the surf, render a 
very strong line indispensable for large bass. Still, as the 
fish is as gamy as a salmon, and full as cunning, the line 
must be fine and the rig very clean, or he will select every 
piece of chum thrown to him, and refuse the one with a hook 
in it; or if by chance — when feeding on chum — he takes a 
piece with a hook in it, he rejects it instantly, and before the 
angler has time to strike, probably distinguishing the differ- 
ence by the weight of the hook. The most successful way 
to angle for them is to rig so clean that they will grab the 
bait like hungry dogs, and dash away for more, or to keep it 
away from other fishes. 

Rod. — Should be from seven to eight feet six inches in 
length. The two lower joints of ash, and the upper one of 
lancewood, mounted as indicated by A, B, C, with silver, bell- 
metal, or brass. Some prefer a Japan bamboo pole, because 
of its strength and lightness ; several gentlemen of thePasque 
Island, Cuttyhunk, and West Island clubs are among those, 
and as these clubs include many of our amateur experts at 
this elegant kind of fishing, their opinions claim attention. 
My own opinion is, that a highly-finished, well-balanced, three- 
jointed rod is the best for use, and of course most convenient 
for carrying on fishing excursions. Some anglers have joint- 
ed bassing-rods made exclusively from split bamboo, weigh- 
ing less than a pound, including their silver and jewel mount- 
ings ; the objects attained being lightness, strength, beauty, 
and just elasticity enough for casting and playing a fish. The 
sockets and shoulders of the joints of all rods for coast and 
estuary fishing should be lined and covered with the same 
metal used for the bands and guide-frames. Double guides, 
one side lined with jewels and the other made of bell-met- 
al, and a jeweled top, form a good mounting, the shoulders 
beins; covered with the same metal as the bands. It is nei- 



Preparing to Captivate. 



67 



ther artistic nor in good taste to cover the rod several inches 
with bright metal for attaching the reel. Whether double 
guides or patent ones are preferred, carnelian or agate make 
good lining and tip. The tip should be formed with a screw 
to fit several top joints. German silver, brass, bell-metal, or 
any other metal, hard and still malleable enough, and which 
will not oxydize in a saline atmosphere, form good mount- 
ings. A solid butt, without elaborate and heavy mountings 
to hold a reel, is preferable. If the line does not run on jew- 
els, bell-metal is the next best material, except it be the alu- 
minum — a light metal of new invention in combination and 
manner of manufacture — which is lighter than any other 
metal, and is said never to oxydize. Our fishing-tackle man- 
ufacturers are making trout-reels of it, and, to judge from ap- 
pearance and recommendation, I should decide that it is the 
best metal ever employed for reels and mountings of fishing- 
rods. 

As no sinker is used for assistance in casting menhaden 
bait, and as the striped bass are extremely knowing, the ne- 
cessity for a clean rig, and nothing to check the impetus of 
the bait, make up desiderata never to be lightly regarded by 
the bass angler. 




Baits, Chum-spoon, and Thumb-stall. 

No. 1. The menhaden — Alosa menhaden — a species of her- 
ring used for bait, and showing the mark, back of which a 
bait is taken on each side. 

No. 2. Bait cut from No. 1, the knife being drawn through 
the flesh side at dotted line, but not so deep as to part the 
skin, but to facilitate folding like 3. 



68 Fishing in American Waters. 

No. 3. Bait folded at dotted line and baited on shank-headed 
hook, with a half hitch of the line cast round the end of 
bait to prevent it from slipping down and filling the bend 
of the hook. Some anglers cast one half hitch around the 
bait just below the head of the hook, and another round 
the top of the bait ; it forms a more compact bait, and bet- 
ter shape to cast ; but bluefishes are more likely to cut the 
line off than when the bait is secured by one half hitch 
above the hook, as repi'esented. 

No. 4. A thumb-stall, knitted from heavy double and twisted 
woolen yarn, to be worn on each thumb, to prevent the 
friction of the line in checking the too swift revolving of 
the reel. 

No. 5. Chum-spoon for throwing minced fish with. After 
taking a bait from each side of the menhaden between the 
first dorsal and the tail, which is done by first scaling the 
part from which the bait is taken, then chop fine the re- 
mainder of the fish, head and all, with a hatchet or bait- 
knife, and use the spoon to cast it out on the pool to be 
fished. The spoon is about a foot long. This chopped-up 
fish is called " chum," and casting it out is called " chum- 
ming," Avhich is continued until the debris of half a dozen 
menhaden so scattered on the water produces an oily sur- 
face, or " slick," as the gaffers call it, extending sometimes 
half a mile from shore. When bass smell it they approach 
it, and follow the oily surface toward the point where the 
chum was thrown in, occasionally finding small bits of men- 
haden, which the angler on the rocks may see them break 
water to obtain. Nearer and nearer the bass approach in 
the path of chum until they arrive within casting distance. 
The chum should be chopped very fine ; some persons cast 
in the head of a menhaden whole ; this is bad practice, for 
it not only invites sharks and bluefish, but bass feed on it 
when they might otherwise take the baited hook. 



Recuperating Health. 69 



SECTION SIXTH. 

A DAY WITH THE DOCTOR. — ANGLING AT THE PASSING 

CLUBS. 

Well, doctor, having arrived at West Island, which is 
owned by an association of gentlemen who have formed 
themselves into a club for the incomparable enjoyment of 
angling for striped bass, they will of course assign us stands 
to fish from to-morrow. It is the practice here for all mem- 
bers to draw at night for the choice of stands to fish from 
the next day. 

Doctor. A gentleman just handed me a card containing a 
" number," and " outside the Hopper," marked on it. 

S. I perceive by the card that the outside of the Hop- 
per is assigned to us. Well, of course that is owing to the 
composition of the club; the members have given us their 
best stands. That is a feature of all the bassing clubs ; and 
besides, William C. Barrett, Esq., is president of this institu- 
tion, and he is a sportsman possessed of the most discrimin- 
ative sense of true hospitality. On the morrow we will try 
to do honor to their estimate of us. 

D. Gentlemen, as Mr. S. and myself are somewhat fa- 
tigued, and would prefer to retire early, will you have the 
goodness to join us in a parting glass for the night ? 

All join ; and we retire with a sense of good-will toward 
all mankind, and indulge school-boy hopes of the morrow. 

" While others are brawling, let anglers agree, 

And in concord the goblet replenish ; 

'Twill cost not a care so long as we share 

The cups of content and of concord." 

Our dreams were rose-tinted ; but the pleasurable antici- 
pations of the morrow's exploits caused us to awake early, 
and I sounded the doctor before daylight. 

S. Hallo, doctor ! Mosier, who is to be our gaffer, rapped 
at my door and said it was four o'clock. 

D. Well, sir, I have been up an hour, and down on the pi- 



70 Fishing in Ameeican Watees. 

azza trying to joint my rod, but I can not get a light, and 
" daylight don't appear." 

S. Bravo ! I'll be with you in a minute. 

D. The sea fog sets in chilly ; what say you to a cocktail 
and a cracker ? 

/S. Oh ! Do you know where we are ? 

D. Certainly ; we are near Plymouth Rock, the blarney- 
stone of America. 

S. Tush ! I will accompany you, and we will take a sto- 
machic and a cracker; but do not — for appearance sake — 
call drinks by their ordinary names in this " land of steady 
habits," where it is unlawful to taste diffusible stimulants. 

D. For medicine ? 

S. Of course not, if prescribed by a physician ! 

D. It was upon that hypothesis I ventured the invitation. 
I brought my diploma with me, and, as a doctor, I prescribe 
the potion. 

S. Ahem ! you are right ; I feel that your prescription is 
a good antarthritic. And now we will hie to the Hopper 
Rocks, take our stands, joint our rods, and be ready by the 
time Hosier gets tlje fish chummed in. Hosier calls up the 
bass here just as a farmer brings his chickens to feed. Let 
us prepare ; but there is no use to make a cast before sunrise. 

Mosier. I've thro wed in the chum of six fish, an them 
scups an cachockset comes up an takes it just for all the 
world as if they was game ! an I hain't seen nothin of no 
bass yet. 

/S. That is right, doctor ! you have jointed your rod per- 
fectly; every joint should be driven home. Now, in fasten- 
ing the hook to your line, cast two half hitches with the end 
of your line over the shank, just below the head; then turn 
up the end of the line, and cast a half hitch over it and the 
shank, and turn the hook round in the tie thus formed to see 
that it revolves easily — cut off any superfluous end of line. 
See how Hosier chops up the chum, and where he throws it ; 
and just where he throws the chum, cast your baited hook. 



Captain Mosier in Command. 71 

Mosier, bait the doctor's hook. I see luminous rays from 
the God of Day, and he will make a splendid appearance in 
ten minutes. Now, doctor, reel up your line, so that the bait 
will be within a yard of the top of your rod, and make a cast 
to the whirl which you see was made by a bass. Your reel 
overruns? That is unfortunate. You should keep your 
thumb on the reel, and check it as the bait drops on the 
water. Mosier, bait my hook; I have put on a medium- 
sized hook with a headed shank, and I am going in for the 
fish refused by the doctor. 

Hosier. Mr. S.,jist cast along there in Snecker's Gap, for 
they are xeether sassy there on the young flood. 

S. Well, Mosier, here goes for a forty-pounder ! 

Mosier. There ! I told you so ; I knew that feller wanted 
breakfast, an I guess he's got enough to last him. 

D. Mr. Mosier, as I have succeeded in getting my line out 
of snarl, shall I cast now ? 

Hosier. Not quite yet, I guess, for there's no knowin where 
that critter will yet lead Mr. S. 

D. Well, I will take a seat on the rock here, and look at 
the play. Ugh ! that wave wet me all over. Is it not dan- 
gerous to remain here ? 

Mosier. No, sir ; ony keep a look-out for them ninth waves ; 
don't git down toward a gulch, but watch where the waves 
throw the most water when they break, for it allers depends 
on the course of wind. 

D. I see your philosophy is correct, Mr. Mosier, and I have 
now got a dry seat. Mr. Mosier, do you think that fish will 
ever be landed ? He has run nearly all the line off the reel 
already. 

Mosier. I can't say; there's no counting on them chaps 
till they are landed, if so be you fish with a pole ; but if I 
had him on my hand-line, I'd make him come humming, and . 
show no quarters. 

8. Mosier, keep my line away from the rocks with your 
gaff, for he seems bent on rounding the Hopper Rock, and 



72 Fishing in American "Waters. 

its corners may cut or chafe and part my line. There ! he 
has tacked again ; be ready to gaff him, if I get him near 
enough, before he makes another run. 

Mosier. I see his mate a keeping alongside of him all the 
time ; she's 'bout as big as the hooked one. I mean to gaff 
that one first. How like tai'nation the feller fights, an tries 
to whip out the hook with his tail ; that shows he's gitting 
tired. When they curl themselves up on the top of the wa- 
ter so that you can't budge 'em, you had better be careful 
not to hold so hard as to let 'em break the line with their tail, 
nor cut it off with their back fin ; nor so loose as to let him 
git slack line to unhook, or knock the hook out of his jaw 
with his tail. There ! see him straighten out ! He has made 
his last fight, and got whipped ! His mate has gone. 'Twas 
no use for her to stay an try to help him any Longer, for she 
knows he's dead. Now, with the heave and haul of the tide, 
there is more danger of breaking the line an losing him than 
if he was. alive ; but here he comes, an here goes the gaff — a 
forty-pounder at least I 

S. Well done, Mosier ! Struck just in time, for the hook 
has let go. 

Mosier. Jist so ; I hain't no confidence in them hooks with 
the barb curling out so that you can not git it into the flesh. 
The Kinsey point an Sproat bend, or the O'Shaughnessy with 
the Kinsey point, are the best. 

D. Well, my preconceived notions of bass-fishing have all 
been cast wide. When you first hooked the bass, I thought 
I could take a seat and be a quiet looker-on at the play ; but 
I have been so excited by alternate hopes, fears, doubts, and 
surprises, that I want you to pardon me for getting into your 
way several times. The truth is, it astonishes me to see the 
fish on terra firma. I thought him lost a dozen times ; and I 
can not now fully realize how it is possible to play success- 
fully so large a fish, and one so game, in such boisterous 
water, with such slender tackle. I am really afraid to try to 
make a cast, for I expect if I get a strike that I shall either 
break my rod, or the fish will part my line. 



The Doctor doing Better. 73 

S. Hoot ! doctor, don't be too modest ; a man who has shot 
wolves in the Black Forest, and killed salmon in the Dee and 
Moisie, is not easily demoralized by a striped bass. 

Mbsier. Yes, doctor, you jist make a cast out into the Rifle 
Pit, and do it right away, for I see by their whirls that they 
are hungry. 

S. See that your thumb-stalls are well on, and that your 
line is clear. Now reel up so that your bait is within two 
feet of the tip of your rod, and when you cast, hold your 
thumb gently on the reel-line, and as the bait touches the 
water, press your thumb on the line to check the reel at once, 
and prevent the reel from overrunning. , 

D. Well, here goes for a second trial. 

S. Very fair cast ; far enough for bass at this stage of tide. 

D. Ye — ye — es, I see it is, but then I shall not be able to 
save him — I know I can not, for he runs and pulls so like a 
reindeer that I can not check him. There ! my thumb-stall 
is loose, and I feel that my reel is not tight. He's gone ! I 
knew 1 couldn't save him. 

S. Don't be so excited, doctor ; keep cool, and reel in your 
slack line ; he is only studying a new dodge or making a new 
tack. 

Mosier. He breaks water ; I seen him ; he's a scrouger ! 

tS. There, doctor, you perceive he has hove to for a lunar, 
and to discover how to tack ; there ! he is now laying his 
course for Newport ; reel as fast as you can, and, if necessary, 
run back to prevent him from getting slack line. 

D. This last turn and the dash of spray nearly capsized 
me. Why, he plays as strong as he did when he was first 
hooked. 

S. How long do you suppose you have played him ? 

D. Nearly an hour, and he seems to grow stronger and 
stronger. 

S. It is not yet fifteen minutes since you hooked him ; bear 
up, keep cool, and keep your line clear on the reel, and be 
prepared for his fight. They do not appear to be in a mood 



74: Fishing in Ameeican Waters. 

for sulking this morning ; sometimes they settle behind rocks, 
and butt the hook against them to spring it out. 

Mosier. Don't you hold him a leetle too taut ? 

D. I don't know ; but I can not play him easier, for when 
I give him an inch, he takes a rod ! 

/S. He will soon stop for his final fight. See ! he is prepar- 
ing. Now ease the line a trifle, and trust to the chance of 
his being well hooked. 

D. He's gone, I know he is ! Just see the fellow throw 
himself like Pat McAroon in a street-fight. There, he's off! 
No, he is not ; what's to be done ? 

/S. Reel up gently ; he is dead ; that is, he has fought until 
he has fainted. Gingerly, doctor; reel with the incoming 
surf, and slacken with the ebb — there ! 

Mosier. He is a game one, and will weigh over twenty 
pounds. They're allays hifalorum in them Rifle Pits ! Gen- 
tlemen, the breakfast horns has been bio win a good while. 
. I). I am wilted. These rocks are rough to run about on 
and play a fish, when every now and then Neptune drenches 
one with spray. I had long heard that sti-iped bass were 
game, but all that I ever heard or read did not prepare me 
for such encounters as I have seen and realized this morning. 
I am not now surprised that Amei'icans consider this the head 
of game fishes. The accessories of fishing for it, the scenes 
where it is taken, together with the modus operandi of its 
capture by artistic means, render the sport the most exciting 
that I know of under the head of angling. I shall certainly 
prescribe something to steady my nerves. Eh Men! To 
breakfast is the order ; and as we have taken two grand bass, 
ne quid nimis, we will even leave off fishing while they are 
feeding, which, for the vulgar object of ourselves feeding, is, 
with a real angler, an unpardonable offense against the aes- 
thetics of sport. But, though belonging to the refined con- 
fraternity of anglers, our excuse is that we are rigged with 
human necessities. 

As the breakfast-table is the morning's trysting-place for 



Breakfast and Depaetuee. 75 

the members of the club, where they recount their exploits 
over. their tea and coffee, with broiled bluefish, striped bass, 
and scopogue, or with broiled chicken and beefsteak, the ten- 
der of congratulations to my friend for his success, and the 
stories of successful takes by some, and of parting tackle with 
others, acted as charming opiates to witch away the time ; 
and when we rose from table we saw our yacht hove-to, and 
the sails flapping an invitation for us to step on board. With 
great reluctance and regret we parted from the members of 
the West Island Club, and the most attractive five-acre island 
in America. 

The sail to Cuttyhunk was remarkably interesting, present- 
ing views of the picturesque landscape, alternating with vil- 
las and foliage on Massachusetts shore, and the group of Eliz- 
abeth Islands and Martha's Vineyard, with No Man's Land 
peering above the waves far out in the ocean. We arrived be- 
fore lunch-time, and, having examined the trout preserve, the 
black bass and white perch ponds, and taken each a couple of 
striped bass from that incomparable stand, " Bass Rock," we 
adjourned to dinner, where we were regaled with choice vi- 
ands, wines, and the recital of angling exploits by the mem- 
bers of the club, who are justly celebrated as amateur experts 
with rod and reel. 

After dinner we shook hands as an au revoir, mats pas 
adieu, and ran over to Pugne Island, to drop in upon John 
Anderson, Esq., and learn from him what charms he could 
see in his little island home of a hundred acres to induce a 
millionaire of his industrious proclivities and habits — with- 
out a knowledge or taste for field-sports or yachting — to 
shut himself out thus from the enjoyments of the greatest 
and most social city in the Union — his birth-place, where he 
has, by enterprise, accumulated a fortune, and possesses one 
of the finest residences in the metropolis. He informed us 
that the charming climate, with the constant feast to his eyes 
in scenery, made up of the main land and the islands, with 
the ever-changing aspect of the sea, filled his soul with rap- 



76 Fishing in American Waters. 

ture, and made his cu]} of happiness full to overflowing. 
With a promise to visit him before taking final leave of 
Vineyard Sound, we steered for Pasque Island, only six miles 
distant. 

Here we found a club-house with appointments calculated 
to render not only the members of the club and their families 
comfortable, but all such guests as members of the associa- 
tion think proper to extend invitations to. The island in- 
cludes more than a thousand acres, which the crab has divid- 
ed into two farms, erected commodious buildings, including 
club-house, ice-house, stabling, etc. The club has also vege- 
table and flower gardens, sail-boats and row-boats, and the 
river, which sets back a mile into the island, is stocked with 
a hundred thousand menhaden as bait for the use of the club. 
This is the ne plus ultra of a place for angling, being sep- 
arate by a strait half a mile wide from Norshon, which is 
nine miles in length by two miles wide, fifteen miles from the 
main land, and stocked with all the English and Scotch game 
birds and most of their game animals, including also several 
hundred American deer, prairie-fowl, etc. It also contains a 
large pond well stocked with black bass, besides several perch 
ponds ; the latter is not regarded as a very valuable acces- 
sory to any piece of real estate, for perch fishing is not con- 
sidered sport in America. I mean the common yellow perch 
with barred sides ; but the white perch, like those of Cutty- 
hunk, offer good sport to ladies and children, and are a very 
good pan-fish, ranging in size from three ounces to three 
pounds. 

We remained at Pasque Island several days, most of the 
time angling for striped bass, but occasionally, on a dark 
day, spending it in a cruise after swordfish, which we took 
with the harpoon. Other days we rowed a little boat out a 
hundred rods from shore, when we put down killick and still- 
baited for squeteague, weighing from five to fifteen pounds 
each. Then, again, if the bluefish came in such shoals as to 
turn our strait into a state of commotion resembling soap- 



Attractions of the Elizabeth Islands. 77 

suds, we rigged to the end of our bass-line about two feet of 
piano wire, on which we wound a hook with copper wire. 
Then Ave anchored on the edge of the tide, and cast out a 
hook baited without much care, and the moment afterward 
we were saluted by a jerk and a summersault a yard clear 
of the surface, and a short, vigorous fight to bring the blue- 
fish to gaflT An hour of energetic sport, and twenty bluefish 
of from eight to twelve pounds each, generally satisfied us ; 
and though the fish challenged us by menacing leaps to con- 
tinue the contest, we preferred to retire — however ignomini- 
ous it might appear to them — and recuperate for another 
time. 

It was hard to part from those charming scenes and the 
healthful recreation. The doctor decided to return home to 
England, arrange his business, come back, and spend his life 
at Pasque Island. But how to leave those captivating aquatic 
scenes, ranging from simple loveliness to grandeur, and some- 
times rising to sublimity ? What scene can be more refresh- 
ing and exalting than an expansive view of the mighty waves, 
dotted here and there with such beautiful islands as those in 
the Vineyard Sound ? The Elizabeth Islands offer the condi- 
ments of existence to season the dry hurry-scurry and com- 
monplaceism of the business world on the main lands of 
America ; and they will, before many years, be numbered 
with the watering-places of the world par excellence. While 
aquatic birds skim the waves, and the gulls are screaming, 
dipping, and darting over a shoal of bluefish or menhaden, 
vessels outward and homeward bound are always passing, for 
it includes in its range of view the packets and steamers for 
England, and the steam and sailing crafts between New York 
and Boston. We have here the foreground and perspective 
worthy the pencil of Claude cle Lorraine, while the back- 
ground is formed of the granite shores of Massachusetts, with 
its improvements so varied and important as to give surety 
of an intelligent and industrious population. Who would not 
delight to angle here ? 



78 



Fishing in American Waters. 



" Eternal ocean ! old majestic sea ! 
Ever I love from shore to shore to look on thee, 
And sometimes on thy billowy back to ride, 
And sometimes o'er thy summer breast to glide ; 
But let me live on land, where rivers run ; 
Where shady trees may screen me from the sun ; 
Where I may feel, serene, the fragrant air ; 
Where, whatever toil or wearying pains I bear, 
Those eyes whicli look away all human ill 
May shed on me their still, sweet, constant light, 
And the hearts I love may, day and night, 
Be found beside me, safe and clustering still." 




Tackle foe Weakfish. 79 




Weakfish, ok Squeteague. — Labrus Squeteague. — Storer. 



CHAPTER IV. 

WEAKFISH, OE SQUETEAGUE. 
This fish is considered the second in interest by the angler 
of the coast and estuaries of our Eastern and Middle States. 
It never visits fresh water, and either spawns along the sea- 
shores, or on deep middle-grounds of estuaries or bayous, the 
latter being small bays and back-sets of tide waters. It is 
probably a family of the Glupea genus, one of the marked 
characteristics of which is that it contains roe in different 
stages of approximate maturity, though this fish differs by 
continuing to spawn at different times from the last of March 
until the first of November. It is, therefore, quite probable 
that the squeteague visits our shores to spawn, and that it re- 
mains during the spawning season ; and if it be true that the 
time of their stay is regulated by the duration of their spawn- 
ing season, then we may reasonably suppose that they spawn 
along the term of time between March and November, 
though the best time to angle for the squeteague is from the 
first of June until October. From the middle of June until 
September the tidal parts of rivers from Chesapeake Bay to 
Vineyard Sound actually teem with them. I have taken 
with light bassing-tackle, comprised of a nine-foot jointed 
rod, a reel carrying a hundred yards of fine linen line, a swivel 
sinker, single-gut leader, hooks snelled on single gut, like 
those represented on the plate for taking small striped bass, 
medium-sized cork float, and shrimp bait, on many occasions, 



80 Fishing in American Waters. 

a pair a minute for some time ; but the fish would not scaie 
over half a pound each. Shoals of them rise to the surface 
like mackerel, at full tide, and take bait as fast as it can be 
cast to them ; but after they sink it is useless to angle longer 
for them. Then you will generally hear a croaking sound in 
the water all round your boat, which indicates their presence ; 
but while croaking they will seldom bite. They generally 
croak for half a minute after being landed. 

At full tide slack I once rowed out from the Bath Hotel, 
where I was passing the summer, nearly to the mouth of Co- 
ney Island Creek, where I took eighty-four squeteague within 
forty minutes. They averaged about three quarters of a 
pound. This was in July. At every cast I hooked a pair, 
and fished as expertly as possible until a shoal of porpoises 
approached, when the squeteague settled, or sank, and quit 
biting. 

This is a white-meated fish, the meat rather mealy when 
small ; but after it scales ten pounds it becomes as flaky as 
a salmon, and resembles one very much, except in its being 
a square-tail. It is an excellent pan-fish if cooked when first 
caught, being free from the flavor of any foreign substance ; 
but it soon deteriorates, and its juices become absorbed. In 
point of delicacy of flavor, many epicures prefer it to either 
the striped bass or bluefish. Its eyes being oval, it is sup- 
posed to possess the strongest sight of any estuary fish. Al- 
though it has no teeth on the tongue or in the throat, its jaws 
are armed with pretty strong and sharp ones, which are set 
so far apart as to prevent it from biting off a gut snell. Its 
mouth is very bony, and the meat being tender, it is there- 
fore liable to unhook easily by the hook tearing a large ori- 
fice, or not taking sufficient depth of hold. I therefore rec- 
ommend a hook of fine wire, well tempered, and of large bend. 
The rushing bite of a squeteague is precisely like that of a 
brook trout, but its play is of shorter duration, and it sooner 
yields to fatigue. 

The shape of the squeteague is represented by the engrav- 



Sportive Estuary Fishing. 81 

ing, and its colors are gray, masculated on the back and 
down to the middle of the sides with clouded spots of dark- 
er shade, and all terminating in a gold-colored belly, pecto- 
ral, ventral, and anal fins. The dorsals and tail are clouded 
like the back. The first dorsal is composed of spiked rays, 
and the second soft. 

In angling for large squeteague about the Elizabeth Isl- 
ands and in the Vineyard Sound, heavy combination tracing 
sinkers are used, and the shank-headed bass-hook, baited with 
menhaden, is preferred. There they are taken by still-baiting 
from a boat anchored from thirty to fifty rods from shore, in 
from fifteen to twenty feet water. The squeteague is one 
of the swiftest fishes of the square-tails, and its ready and 
dashing bite, and short fight, render angling for it with light 
bass-tackle as exciting' as for almost any other fish of our es- 
tuaries. For the very small fish shrimp is the best bait ; for 
the yellow-fins shedder crab is the best; but for those of the 
-large and rounded form of the salmon, the menhaden bait is 
generally preferred. 

It is almost superfluous to state that angling in the tide- 
ways with success requires that attention be paid to the 
stages of the tide. In general, squeteague bite best on the 
second half of the flood tide, but there are places where they 
bite best on the ebb. If outside the mouth of a river, the 
first of the flood is best, while well up the estuary they begin 
biting when the tide is half up, and continue until half ebb. 

Though feeding-ground for, squeteague is in deeper water 
than is chosen by striped bass, yet they generally forage 
along the bank of the channel. I have frequently anchored 
my boat so that, angling with the tide, I w T as sure to take 
nothing but striped bass, but by casting to the right or left, 
outside the bank, within three rods of the boat, I would take 
nothing but squeteague, and an occasional blackfish or tautog. 

In a commercial point of view the squeteague is important. 
The runs of shad up our rivers cease about the first week in 
June, when the squeteague become numerous in our bays and 

F 



82 Fishing in American Waters. 

the estuaries of the larger rivers. Great quantities are then 
taken in seines, pounds, and set-nets, which supply the marble 
stands of the markets lately vacated by the shad. The sque- 
teague at this time divides interest with the early run of blue- 
fish, and about the middle of June the sheepshead visit us, 
when the variety includes also tautog and black bass, with 
the bonetta, cero, and the incomparable Spanish mackerel. 
These do not include any of the fresh-water fishes, of which 
the black bass is very numerous in June. 

SECTION SECOND. 

SOUTHERN SEA TROUT. 

From Delaware Bay all along the Southern coast, and in 
the estuaries of rivers which debouch into a bay or arm of 
the Atlantic, this fish is taken in great numbers with nets 
and angling tackle, and is known as the " sea trout." Both 
its habits and play are so much like those of the squeteague, 
or weakfish, that anglers along the coast of New Jersey 
term it the spotted weakfish, to distinguish it from the oth- 
er, which they call the mottled weakfish ; but the inhabit- 
ants of the coast from Delaware to Florida know it only as 
the " sea trout," or " spotted silversides." 



Southern Sea Trout. — " OtoKthus reyalis." 

The body of the sea trout is more round, and it is smaller 
from the tail to the second dorsal and anal fins than the weak- 
fish or squeteague. Its meat is also firmer, and the flakes 
closer and more compact, while its silver-gray back and sides 
are of a bluish tint, which shines like burnished steel, and its 
belly and the lower fins are white, without a yellow tinge. 



Kesoets of of Sea Tkout. 83 

It is also sprinkled all over, including its dorsal fins and tail, 
with jet black dots about the size of a pea. 

Professor Mitchill, in writing of the squeteague, states : 
" A beautiful variety of this fish is sometimes seen with the 
following characters, to wit : Spotted squeteague — \Lab. Sq. 
maculatus]. There are black, well-defined spots among the 
specks over the back and sides, and checkering the caudal 
and second dorsal fins. The pectoral fins are rather small ; 
ventral and anal fins not yellow, but brownish. The parts 
thus variegated with spots have a pretty appearance." With- 
out doubt, the professor alluded to the Southern sea trout ; 
and as it shoals with the squeteague, and only visits the 
shores of New Jersey occasionally and in small numbers, he 
did not see proper to distinguish it by other than a peculiarly 
marked variety of the squeteague ; whereas it differs more 
palpably from the squeteague than do some families of the 
mackerel tribes, eminently the Spanish mackerel and the cero, 
which differ only in the color of their spots, the first being- 
gold color, and the latter black. 

The sea trout is superior to the squeteague as a table-fish ; 
its scales are about the same size, but firmer, brighter, and 
not so viscid. As a game fish, it is fully equal to the sque- 
teague, as free a biter, and as readily netted. Both fishes are 
summer spawners, laying from 175,000 to 700,000 eggs. 

The sea trout appears along the coast and estuaries of the 
Southern States nearly all the year round, but takes the hook 
most freely from June until December. It is taken of all 
sizes between a pound and fifteen pounds' weight, and if there 
is a difference in game between this fish and the squeteague, 
it is in favor of the sea trout, which is a heavier fish of its 
size, and rather more elaborately rigged with fins. It should 
be angled for in the same manner and with the same tackle 
used for taking squeteague ; and shedder crab is its weak- 
ness. But as all the shores and estuaries of the South are 
alive with crabs, as well as other Crustacea, baits are easily 
obtained for striped bass, trout, golden mullet, hogfish, grunt- 



84 Fishing in American Waters. 

ers, sheepshead, and several other species of anglers' fishes, 
all of which are much more numerous than they are in the 
latitude of New York. Fishes for the troll are also very nu- 
merous along the coost of the Southern States ; such, for ex- 
ample, as the Spanish mackerel, bonetta, or bonito, pompineau, 
redfish, cero, and bluefish ; and while gunners extend their 
sporting tours as far south as the Floridas, and west to the 
Rocky Mountains, anglers seem contented with trouting in 
spring, visiting Canada for salmon in summer, and casting 
the hook baited with menhaden for bass in the surf along the 
rocky shores of the Atlantic in the autumn. But it would be 
well worth while to make an angling tour southward in au- 
tumn ; and such as may desire to extend the sporting season 
would do well to take a trip to Washington, and angle for 
striped bass below the falls of the Potomac ; thence to Nor- 
folk, for meeting the Spanish mackerel, striped bass, sea trout, 
and hogfish — a great delicacy — and other fishes of the coast. 
If the sportsman be a relative of Nimrod, he may close the 
season's sport along the coast of North Carolina by shooting 
wild geese, and the numerous varieties of duck which congre- 
gate there in myriads. 

SECTION THIRD. 

SHEEPSHEAD. 

At mouth of river, or. where deep 
O'er mussel-beds the bay tides sweep, 
The bulky sheepshead loves to hie 
When summer suns ride hot and dry ; 
And there, for hours, in anchor'd boat, 
Hopeful, the patient anglers float, 
Only too happy if a score 
Of dainty fish enrich their store. 

The sheepshead is one of the most interesting on the list 
of anglers' fishes. It is a dinner-fish, and by many termed 
the American turbot, because it frequently figures at alder- 
manic dinners. It is really a delicious fish when either boiled, 
or stuffed and baked. It usually makes its appearance in our 
bays and estuaries about the first of June, and remains until 



Our Aldermanic Fish. 



85 



the middle of September ; but it does not visit streams above 
the estuary, and is found in greatest numbers along the mus- 
sel shoals or beds, and around old wrecks in the bays. When 
it first makes its appearance in our waters it is thin and 
lean, but it soon increases in plumpness and succulence, so 
that from an average weight of four pounds early in June, 
it increases to nine pounds by the middle of August. Its 
maximum weight is twenty pounds, but the runs along the 
coasts of Long Island and New Jersey, where they are confess- 
edly in best condition and flavor, seldom range higher than 
from ten to fifteen pounds. Its mouth is paved throughout 
the roof and lower jaw with square teeth of flat surface, like 
eight-inch square mosaic, but rather larger at the outer edge 
of the jaw, where its even teeth resemble those of a sheep, 
from which it is supposed its name is derived. But the teeth 
are not sharp, and there is space between them for a fish-line 
to play, so that it seldom parts a line, or even a single gut 
snell, Awhile mussels and clams are instantly crushed to pow- 
der by its powerful jaws. 




Sheepshead. — Sparus ovis. — DeKay. 

Its scales are large, and surpass in brilliancy the highest 
metallic polish ; they are about half an inch in diameter, hard, 
and radiate from concentric lines, lapping so as to form a de- 
fense on the back and sides against a blunt-pointed gaff". 



S6 



Fishing in American "Waters. 



The crescent-shaped bands on each side are sometimes quite 
black on the back, and lighten gradually to a dark gray tint 
near the belly. The color of the fish is neutral-tinted on the 
back, which lightens gradually to the lateral line, below which 
it is like white chene silk. The spiked dorsal fin is followed 
by a second of soft rays. The upper ray of the pectoral fin. 
is spiked. Its eyes are large, and almost beam with intelli- 
gence. The cheeks are often tinged with a pinky glow; and 
when first raised from the water, and lying exhausted and mo- 
tionless in the landing-net, it is one of the most beautiful and 
happy-looking objects ever raised above the sparkling wave. 




Hooks and Sinkers for Sheepskead. 



Examine your Tackle. 87 

As the play of the sheepshead yields a new sensation to 
the amateur who for the first time indulges the penchant of 
angling for this dinner luxury, and as the modus operandi of 
its capture is somewhat peculiar, the opposite sketch is giv- 
en to indicate the forms and sizes of the hooks and sinkers 
used by anglers with rod and reel, and by members of the 
hand-line committee. 

No. 1. Hook of the Sproat bend, small but strong, of finest 
tempered steel, and the short point and barb sharpened like 
a fine knife-blade, not round and needle-pointed like those 
for striped bass and squeteague. There is a fine gimp-wire 
loop wound to the shank with fine waxed sewing silk or 
fine linen thread. I recommend waxed linen thread when 
snells are wound to hooks for any of the respectable sized 
game fishes of our estuaries ; for fresh water, silk is pref- 
erable. 
No. 2. Shank-headed hook, with the line fastened below the 
head by two or three half hitches, the same as for use in 
fishing for large striped bass. In fastening the line to the 
hook, cast the two half hitches around below the head, then 
turn up the end of the line and cast another half hitch over 
the shank and the end of line, filling the space to the head. 
Then drawthe hitch tight, cut off the end of line even with 
the head of hook, and turn the hook in the tie until it turns 
easily, and you have the best possible hook-rigging. The 
hook should be made of finest tempered steel, and the point 
very sharp, or it will be either turned or broken in the mo- 
saic pavement of the mouth before it slides to the rim of 
the jaw, and by the turn of the fish fastens the hook in the 
lip or corner of the mouth. 
~No. 3. This is the size of hook for hand-line fishing, at which 
a large business is done during July and August, and some- 
times throughout September. There is a greater number 
caught by the hand-line than by sweep-nets or seines, the 
only other methods of taking them for market. The Vir- 
ginia bend, like 3, with knife-blade edges of barb and point, 



88 Fishing in American Waters. 

is preferred ; and the fine but strong linen leader, or twist- 
ed or braided hair leader a yard long, is armed with a hook 
at each end, one to be baited with a whole soft-shell clam 
by inserting the hook between the shells, and the other 
with the clam taken out of the shell. 
No. 4. Tracing sinker of lead, with a hole through the centre 
longitudinally. All sinkers should be of lead, as one of the 
most ponderous metals. At the upper end of the leader — 
which is the same material as the line — three fourths of a 
yard above hook No. 1, the leader should be tied to a brass 
swivel, and, after running the end of the line through the 
sinker, the end of the line should be tied to the upper end of 
the swivel, to prevent the sinker from falling too near the 
hook, and still to permit the line to play freely through it 
when it rests on a mussel-bed at the bottom, so that the 
angler may feel the slightest nibble. This is also a mark- 
ed point in still-baiting on the bottom for striped bass and 
squeteague. 
No. 5. Sinker for hand-line fishing. Tie the end of line to the 
sinker though the hole in the end. About ten or twelve 
inches above the sinker, tie to the main line a leader with 
a hook like No. 3 at each end. The leader should be near- 
ly a yard long, and if made of hair it will be lighter and 
play easier than if of linen ; and when the sinker lies on 
the bed of mussels where sheepshead feed, it is well to have 
the leader so light that the hooks will be moved about by 
the tide. One hook should be about a foot from the main 
line, and the other two feet. When thus rigged, and you 
have cast as far as you can astern of your anchored boat, 
take up all your slack line and your heavy sinker, which 
will permit you to draw the line straight without moving- 
it, and this will enable even a member of the hand-line- 
committee to feel the slightest bite. 

I am thus particular in describing the rig for hand-line fish- 
ing because many good anglers consider the electric dips and 
dives of a " head" too quick for a line to render before break- 



Starting foe a Day's Fishing. 89 

ing a rod. I do not appreciate a repugnance to a rod because 
a fish plays rapidly and with powerful demonstration. The 
angler should use a heavy rod, about nine feet in length, and, 
like the ordinary bass rod, the two lower joints should be of 
ash, and the top of lancewood, or the whole rod should be of 
Japan bamboo. I rather favor a bamboo rod for sheepshead 
fishing. The angler should use the heaviest make of a steel 
pivot bass reel, large enough to carry six hundred feet of 
line, though there will probably never be more than half that 
length carried off the reel; but the fish doubles and turns so 
rapidly that a large drum, or much line on a reel, is necessary 
to wind the line in quickly and prevent the fish from getting 
slack line, and to give him time to disgorge or break the 
hook. 

To the angler who has never fished for sheepshead I would 
say, " You have a rare treat in store, so enjoy it the first op- 
portunity." If a resident of New York, you will find Canar- 
sie, or the " Old Mill," near East New York, the most conve- 
nient places to take sail-boat from, and bait is generally plen- 
ty at either place. Sail down the channel above the inlet 
toward Near Rockaway ; about a mile below Remsen's Hotel, 
feel by sounding for a mussel-bed : they are numerous for a 
mile along shore, about 200 yards from it. When found, cast 
anchor far enough away, so that when the boat toles round 
by the tide toward the feeding-ground, the cast required for 
dropping your sinker on it will be about fifty feet. The wa- 
ter should be about seven feet deep at low tide, and it rises 
there from four to six feet. The best tide to fish is during 
high and low tides, when the water is slack, and until it runs 
at the rate of five miles the hour, or one hour after it begins 
to run; for when the tide runs at its full strength, sheeps- 
head seek some still-water ground, and wait for a moderate 
motion of the waters. During the intermission I am in the 
habit of taking up anchor and trolling for bluefish, or of 
seeking some feeding-ground up a bayou, or some sunken 
vessel, where I angle for sea bass, squeteague, striped bass, 



00 Fishing in American Waters. 

blackfish, and an occasional sheepshead, until the tide again 
serves on the mussel-beds, which generally border the main 
channel. 

At the right times of tide, the locations of the mussel-beds 
are plainly indicated by a fleet of from twenty to fifty small 
sail-boats of hand-line fishermen. Many of them are farmers 
who reside near the shore of Jamaica Bay, and employ the 
interregnum between hay and grass to unite pleasure and 
profit by earning from three to ten dollars a day at fishing 
for sheepshead. There is always ready sale for the fish at a 
price nearly equal to that obtained for salmon. 

Having grouped the implements — except the necessary one 
of a large landing-net, of heavy brass rim and large meshes 
of strong twine — suppose we drive down seven miles to Ca- 
narsie, and go out from there to try the " head" for one turn 
of tide? 

Crossing the ferry from New York, our drive from Brook- 
lyn lies through a labyrinth of flower and vegetable gardens, 
forming a landscape dotted here and there with chateaux 
whose surroundings prove the menage to have been designed 
with a view to uniting comfort with elegance. Those old 
oaks, cherry-trees, and black walnuts, together with the ser- 
pentine windings of a couple of trout brooks, are the only 
marks left of that antiquity which antedates our Revolution- 
ary War for Independence; but the gardens, lawns, fruit- 
trees, and margins of flowers, forming the landscape into a 
picture of beauty, and loading the air with perfume, demand 

that the senses of smell and sight shall do their duty. 
******* 

Yes, judge, we are already at Canarsie, and I do not won- 
der at your surprise that in less than one hour we should 
have left urban blocks of brick and marble, and been wafted, 
as it were, through seven miles of flowers, to be set down on 
the margin of the sea, with all its aquatic views breaking 
upon us like a startling pun or paradox. Be pleased to step 
upon the piazza of the hotel and take a look seaward, while 



Quaint Salts at Canaesie. 91 

our host orders Captain Abraras to bring his yacht along the 
dock. It was amusing, when I first inaugurated rod-fishing 
for sheepshead, to perceive the members of the hand-line-com- 
mittee cast furtive glances at me as they winked knowingly 
to one another, as much as to say, "All's fish as comes to our 
net, and a greenhorn is as good as any, if he pays." The clam- 
rakers and crab-catchers, whose small sail and row boats dot 
the shores and shoals of Jamaica Bay as they saunter about 
barefooted and clad in a red shirt and rolled-up trowsers, also 
believed that anglers for sheepshead with rod and reel were 
monomaniacs ; and though they freely took my money for 
bait, they frankly advised me to use a hand-line for " head." 
This want of faith, however, lasted no longer than did the 
gibes and sneers of the shad-fishermen at Holyoke when Seth 
Green stated that he could hatch a million of shad a day, and 
within a week he hatched six times that number daily. So 
the members of the hand-line-committee and bait-catchers 
soon became not only civil, but vied with each other in sec- 
onding my wishes by taking pains to procure me peculiar 
baits, etc., concluding finally that angling with a rod and reel 
may be as respectable as fishing with a hand-line. 

SECTION FOURTH. 

ANGLKSTG FOE SHEEPSHEAD. 

The saline air is invigorating, and a slight haze protects us 
from an unwelcome glare of the sun. The gulls scream as 
they dip and sweep over shoals of young herring and men- 
haden. Members of the hand-line-committee are out in full 
force, and sixty clinker-built and copper-fastened tiny sail- 
boats, with poles lowered and sails wrapped round them, are 
anchored along the banks of mussel-beds, intent on baiting 
with clams, and casting their heavy sinkers — catchung ! ca- 
lling ! Our captain rounds our craft to as if he intended to 
swamp half a dozen tiny craft ; but all is serene and the an- 
chor cast, when the captain falls to opening shedder crab and 
soft-shell clams, and throwing the shells overboard at the bow 



92 Fishing in American Waters. 

of the boat, so that the tide will carry theni astern and at- 
tract the fish. 

With the sail lowered over the centre of the stern and 
lashed, the judge takes his stand on one side of it and my- 
self on the other, when each with a single-rigged hook, as be- 
fore stated, and well baited with shedder crab, make our first 
cast. 

" Judge, permit me to advise that when your sinker touch- 
es the water you do not slack your line or permit any to run 
from the reel, but let it sink naturally, and the tide will keep 
your line straight, so that you will be able to distinguish the 
faintest nibble after it settles on the bottom. If you do not 
get a bite in a minute,- jerk — as if you intend to hook a fish — 
and reel in a yard or two of the slack caused by the jerk, and 
then let the sinker settle as at first. Keep striking and reel- 
ing a few feet every minute until you have effectually fished 
over all the ground from where you cast to the boat. Then 
reel all the way up and repair damage to bait, and cast again. 
I have cast and reeled in for hours, sometimes without get- 
ting a single bite from a ' head,' and in such cases my friends 
resorted to segars and other expedients to prevent them from 
becoming discouraged ; and if they saw the hand-line men 
catch a few and string them to a cord fastened to the thole- 
pins, leaving the fish in the water to keep them alive, they 
would forthwith order our captain to bargain for a few at a 
dollar each. But, before we or they discontinued fishing, we 
would take the greatest number of any craft in the bay, and 
frequently more than we knew how to dispose of. But the 
tide slackens, and ' head' will begin to bite very soon. Keep 
your line clear on the reel, and straight from the tip of your 
rod to the sinker." "There ! I've hooked .one !" "His shoot- 
ing up to the top of the water is no sign of weakness, for you 
perceive that I can not prevent him from diving to the bot- 
tom quicker than he came up. Captain, man the landing- 
net, and be ready and careful, for he is a fifteen-pounder ! 
There, he is off again ; you perceive that I can turn him and 



Contest with a Sheepshead. 93 

bring him to the surface, hut as soon as he smells the upper 
air he turns quicker than thought, and, imless I yield him line, 
he will either part it or break my rod. The sheepshead is 
what Lord Dundreary said of a certain bird, ' werry wobust.' 
You are right, judge, he is beautiful; biit do not count him 
until he is in the landing-net. There ! stand out of the way 
of his dorsal and pectoral spikes ; I always wear- boots when 
angling for sheepshead or trolling for blnefish." 

"Ho ! judge, yOu have hooked a good one. Good ! Play 
him gently and gingerly." 

" He'll not let me ! I expect to lose him. There, that's the 
third time I have brought him to the surface, only to see him 
take more line and get farther from the boat at every turn. 
By the powers, there ! Captain, how much will he weigh ?" 

"I guess summut near on to ten pound." 

" What ! You don't mean to say he'll not scale more than 
ten pounds ?" 

" Yes, sir ; maybe et's summut bigger." 

I check the interesting colloquy by stating that I think our 
fishes are about the same size, but that the one I have just 
hooked is larger than either. The judge then sees that it is 
best to employ all his time at fishing while the biting con- 
tinues. As I land the second one, I remark : 

" Judge, you perceive there is no mistaking the bite of a 
sheepshead; his bite informs you that he is in earnest." 

" Precisely so. His bite is like that of no other fish. It 
is as spasmodic as a bluefish and as powerful as an alligator, 
and he gives, also, an indescribable premonition, informing 
you that a powerful fish is examining your bait. There ! 
he's gone !" 

" Well, judge, please examine your hook. The point is bro- 
ken off. The only safe place to hook a ' head' is in the lip, 
or at the angle covering the mandibles. I took thirteen here 
one day, and played a greater number which I lost. Our 
fishing-tackle kings should inspire greater confidence and 
better temper by giving us finer tempered hooks." 



04 Fishing in American Waters. 

The captain counts eleven as our take. Moderate, but 
enough. Suppose we reel up ? Captain, head the craft home- 
ward. Let's unjoint our rods, put them in their cases, and 
enjoy the sail. To our left is the lower bay of New York, 
the fortifications and shore of New Jersey. To our right is 
Rockaway, and the great South Bay. Those birds in the 
weeds are yellow-leg snipe, and those on the sand-bars are 
summer snipe, of numerous varieties. The gulls seem to be 
at war, for they sally from the islets and descend on spearing 
and shoals of small fry as if they were storming a fortification. 

Our horse is ready, and our fish are stowed under the car- 
riage seat. We will try to drive home before sundown. 

There are many places along our shores better than Jamai- 
ca Bay, where we fished to-day, for sheepshead. The hand- 
line-committee make it pay at Fire Island, and there are 
many superior feeding-places in the South Bay. About the 
wreck of the Black Warrior, near the Narrows, is celebrated 
for great numbers of them. In truth, our whole coast south 
of Long Island is rendered inviting by this delicious fish. 

Late in autumn the sheepshead are numerous along the 
shores of Virginia and the Carolinas, but they are not so 
good any where else as within the latitude of the State of 
New York. The sheepshead of our northern chain of lakes 
is an inferior fish, and should not be confounded with our 
coast and estuary delicacy. 

Along the shores of New Jersey sheepshead are numerous 
from May until October : 

Where inlet of the Barnegat 

Opes to the boiling surf its gate, 
When the yonng flood-tide washes in 

Limpet and crab, a luring bait, 
Then, where the affluent current pours 
The deepest o'er its mussel floors, 
The greedy sheepshead hidden lie 
To seize whatever may float by. 
And there, in dancing boat that swing's 

At anchor in the floating tides, 
The angler line and plummet flings, 

And takes the robber where he hides. 



A GAMY AND DELICIOUS FlSI-1. 



95 



SECTION FIFTH. 

THE KINGFISH. 

By many anglers this fish is regarded as the best water- 
game of the estuaries. It is justly entitled to be considered 
one of the best food and anglers' fishes of the waves which 
wash the shores from Sandy Hook to New Yoi'k City. Its 
small and hard mouth is bordered with a gristly rim, peculi- 
arly adapted to holding a small hook. In the waters about 
the city this fish is not numerous, nor are the members of the 
limited shoals of large size, running only from a half to two 
pounds each off Communipaw, Kill Von Kull, and Newark 
Bay ; but at the south end of Staten Island, in Amboy Bay, 
and where it merges into the lower Bay of New York, near 
Freeport, and in Jamaica Bay, near Barren Island, they some- 
times run as heavy as five pounds. All along the South Bay 
and the New Jersey shore and inlets this delectable fish is 
taken in greater or less -numbers in fykes, seines, pounds, and 
with the hand-line, while they yield tithe to sportsmen with 
rod and reel. 




The Kingfish. — Scecena Nebulosa. — Mitchill. 



The meat of the kingfish laminates in flakes of very close 
texture. It is a very heavy fish for its size. Though emi- 
nently a breakfast fish, yet for a chowder the epicure prefers 
it to sea bass or cod, the acknowledged chowder fishes. The 



96 Fishing in American Waters. 

color of the fish is gray, with irregular marks nearly black. 
It is covered with fine, rigid scales, which extend over the 
head. The first dorsal is sjsinous, and all the other fins are 
soft-rayed. The fish possesses great propulsive power, as in- 
dicated by its fins, so that a three-pounder at the remote end 
of a line, with delicate bass rod, generally induces the novice 
to believe the strength, speed, and endurance of the fish un- 
der-estimated. " Gently, but firmly," are the words in play- 
ing a kingfish, which some denominate "barb," because a 
short adipose barb shoots out beneath its lower jaw ; but it 
bears no resemblance to the barbel family. It spawns in 
spring-time, as most white-meated fishes do ; and, though 
rather solitary in its habits, it remains in our estuaries and 
small bays along the coast from May until November. Au- 
gust and September are the best months to angle for it; and 
as the tackle required should be adapted to its size of mouth 
and great propulsive power, the following cut ma} r assist the 
angler who would enjoy the sport of taking the fish, which — 
for his inches — is eminently the king of game fishes. 

The rod is the common three-jointed bass-rod, from eight 
to ten feet in length. Pivot, multiplying reel of German sil- 
ver or brass, large enough to carry from four to six hundred 
feet of fine linen line. 

The play of a kingfish is peculiar, though like the striped 
bass he takes the bait without hesitation and starts away, 
and when he feel's the prick of the hook, accelerates his speed, 
swimming low, and making a very long and strong run. If 
you have never taken one you will be puzzled with his invet- 
erate persistence in keeping down and running deep, and 
your surprise will not be diminished when he finally breaks 
water a hundred yards from the boat; and you will wonder, 
after landing a fish which has taken you nearly half an hour 
to kill, that it weighs scarcely three pounds. The vital spark 
of the kingfish is very brilliant, and he is very tenacious of it ; 
but, once landed, he exhibits a vanquished look, and his or- 
ange-colored eyes and scaly head turn downward, as if both 



Hang-dog Look when Vanquished. 

-mm— = 



97 




Kingfish Tackle. 

A. Strong hook, but small ; either the Virginia or Sproat's bend, made of finely tem= 
pered cast-steel, and needle-pointed: a short bend and low point is required, be- 
cause the mouth is very small ; and a hook of large wire in proportion to the size 
of the bend is necessary, because of the great strength of the fish. B. Tracing 
sinker : the size should be graduated to the strength of the tide, hence the combi- 
nation sinker is the best, because its ponderosity may be increased or diminished 
without untying the line. C. German silver tip, mounted with carnelian or agate, 
to screw into duplicate tops of lancewood ; regular size. D. Part of a lancewood 
top, showing its size, double guide, and line. E. Line, showing how it passes 
through a. jewel-mounted guide. F. Guide, of German silver, bell-metal, or alumi- 
num. G. Bell-metal guide, attached by the same ring which fastens the carnelian. 

, H. Brass swivel, to one end of which the line is attached, and to the other the lead- 
er, which is three fourths of a yard in length, and the snell to which the hook is 
wound is looped to the leader : both leader and snell (or snood) are double silk- 
worm gut. 

fatigued and ashamed ; not like the striped bass and sheeps- 
head, who look happy, and seem to say, "Mr. Angler, I guess 
you had your metal tried in playing me ;" or like a traveler 
just arrived from Europe, assuming an air of importance, as 
if condescending to visit America just to see for himself what 
the Yankees are like. But, though the kingfish looks like a 
deck-passenger after a long voyage, the angler is sure of one 
point in his favor, and the cook, as well as the epicure, will 
be fully assured of another. 

The kingfish shoals on a clean sandy bottom, feeds on Crus- 
tacea, and prefers shrimp, shecider, and soft-shell crabs and 
lobsters. Anchor off Barren Island to the north of the edge of 
the channel, and expect sport. Anchor east of Chesnequack 
Creek, on the border of the channel between there and Free- 
port, and in August and September you can not fail of ob- 

G 



98 Fishing in American Waters, 

taining rapturous sport. Take your bait with you from a 
New York market, for fear of delay. Caving Channel, a 
sandy bottom tideway from Communipaw to Jersey City, is 
said to be a favorite run for small kingfish, where good sport 
is often realized on the firs,t of the flood. Kingfish feed also 
at numerous places in the South Bay, and all along the coast 
of New Jersey. 

To anglers who dwell near the coast, 

The kingfish is a peculiar joy ; 
And among all the scaly host, 

This they choose as their favorite toy. 

SECTION SIXTH. 

THE HOGFISH. 

This fish is very numerous on the Bahama banks and along 
the coast of the Southern States, visiting in the spring, which 
is its spawning season, as far north as the mouth of the Ches- 
apeake Bay. It is white-meated and very juicy, requiring no 
butter or lard in cooking, and its peculiar flavor is very rich 
and creamy, being the best table-fish among anglers' fishes ©f 
the South. It ranges in weight from five to fifteen pounds. 
Its scales are rather large, except on the head, where they are 




The Hoc.fish. 

very small. The first dorsal is spinous-rayed, and all the 
rays of the other fins are soft. It is marked similar to the 
perch, with rays or bars of a darker shade than the rest of the 
fish, which is a reddish-brown. This fish is angled for by 
still-baiting with shedder or soft-shell crab, and with shank- 



Delicacies without Olive Oil. 



99 



headed hooks, like those for taking large bass. As its scales 
are very tenacious, some cooks recommend skinning it as the 
New Engl anders do tautog and yellow perch. It is an excel- 
lent fish when stuffed and baked, but it* is rather adipose for 
boiling. 

Apropos of scaling fish : First, lave them in vinegar, and 
the most tenacious scales will be easily removed. 

THE GRUNTER. 

This is a silver-sided fish with gray back and white belly. 
The fish is very plump, round, and fat, without any foreign 
taste. It usually weighs from two to five pounds, and is 
juicy enough to fry without butter. It is one of the best 
breakfast fishes of the shores and estuaries, and usually shoals 
with the squeteague, and utters several grunts after being 
landed. It is angled for the same as the squeteague. Its 
fins are all soft-rayed, and it is leather-mouthed ; medium 
sized scales cover the body. In speaking of a frying fish, I 
believe in the epicurean theory of never frying a fish which 
weighs over half a pound ; and that boiling, broiling, baking, 
and chowdering are the only true ways to cook fish, except 
the primitive ones of rolling them in buttered paper and roast- ' 
ing them in hot embers, or threading them on a birch toast- 
ing-fork, with a slice of pork, and roasting them before a 
camp-fire. The grunter is a great delicacy, and very good 
game for the sportsman with rod and reel. 




The Gkuntek. 



100 Fishing in American Waters. 



THE GOLDEN 3IULLET. 

This is eminently a fish of the coast and inlets of the Caro- 
linas, though in summer it is taken in considerable numbers 
as far north as the coast and estuaries of New Jersey. Its 
mouth is very small and toothless, so that a person might be 
led to suppose that it lived on animalcula did it not bite so 
ravenously. In size, the golden mullet range from half a 
pound to a pound, and they are so fat that cooks say " they 
fry themselves." I know of no fish possessing in an equal de- 
gree the rich, sweet juiciness of the golden mullet. It is al- 
ways distinguishable -by from two to four jet spots above 
the tail. The color of the back is brown, sides golden, belly 
white, meat a cream color. Its scales are small and soft, fins 
soft-rayed. The body is masculated in dark shades like the 
squeteague, and the tail is straight across the end. 




The Golden Mullet. 

The golden mullet affords exciting sport to the young an- 
gler with very light bass and perch tackle. The rod should 
either be four-jointed and ten feet long, or a plain bamboo 
pole, mounted with guides and reel-rings. The reel may be 
small, but large enough to carry a hundred yards of fine linen 
line, because the angler sometimes hooks squeteague, grunt- 
ers, striped bass, and kingfish while angling for the smaller 
delicacy. The golden mullet affects shrimp bait, but will 
sometimes take mussels and soft clams. The hook must be 
small — single leaders are preferred — and a swivel and float 
afford the prettiest sport, with two hooks, as rigged for small 
striped bass. The golden mullet seldom ventures far above 
the estuaries of rivers, and it should not be disgraced by con- 



Spoet foe Ladies and Children. 



101 



founding' it with the numerous family of mullets of the Mugil 
genus. 

THE WHITE PERCH. 

This fish is found at the meeting of salt and fresh waters all 
along the coast from Cape Cod to the Carolinas, and, though 
similar in essential marks, it differs in shade and symmetry 
either according to its food or the waters it inhabits. It is a 
little fish at best, ranging all the way from three ounces to 
three pounds. Of course you throw the small ones back if 
you do not hook them in the gills. The back is neutral- tint- 
ed, sides a silvery lustre, and belly white. The first dorsal is 
spinous, and the others soft-rayed, except the first anal. The 
head is small, and, with its silver-plated gill-covers, small 
mouth, and little teeth, looks pretty, bites freely, and resists 
the angler merrily. This fish is peculiarly adapted for the 
sport of juveniles. It is a pan-fish, white-meated, flat, easily 
scaled, and quite a delicacy in November, for it is one of our 
latest biting fishes. Angle for it with light bass-tackle, and 
it is generally to be found near where a creek of fresh water 
empties into salt water, or in brackish waters over springs 
which bubble up from the bottom of a pond or river. A 
white perch which weighs but a pound affords sport with 
light tackle, and, when weighing three pounds, it plays very 
vigorously. 




The White Perch. 



102 Fishing est American Waters. 



THE SMELT. 

This is a small, delicate fish, supposed by some to belong 
to the salmon tribe, though it is not nearly so much like it 
:is is a shiner like a shad. It is almost translucent, and from 
live to eight inches in length ; its meat is soft, white, and 
sweet, with no bones but the spine and ribs, which are so 
small and tender that they are eaten with the precious mor- 
sel of a fish when fried hard in olive oil, or rolled in flour and 
fried in butter so as to be crisp. Its scales are impercepti- 
ble, but the skin, traced in small diamond lines, is like the 
canvas skin of the trout of Long Lake. It is ash-colored on 
the back, with white sides and belly. This is a favorite bait 
for trout or salmon, and an excellent sample for a spinning 
bait. As affording sport, the smelt is no mean game. Late 




The Smelt. — Osmerus JZperlanus. — Yarrell. 

in the autumn, when ice begins to border the streams, the 
angler rigs a long perch-rod with a small multiplying reel, 
and a fine line rigged with half a dozen small trout or min- 
now hooks on short snells fastened to the main line, six inch- 
es apart, and baited with pieces of shrimp or bits of clam, 
and resorts in boat up small tidal streams, anchors and angles 
for them during the flood tide, when it is not uncommon to 
take from a fourth to half a dozen of these pearly beauties at 
a time, as fast as he can bait his hooks and cast them near 
the boat. There is nothing prettier than these gems dangling 
and shining at the end of the line, when they emit the odor 
of fresh cucumbers. On the approach of winter, anglers of 
all ages are seen on the bridges and along the saline streams 
of the coast, from Delaware Bay to the eastern boundary of 
Maine ; and as an article of commerce, thousands are sold in 



A Bait for Stbiped Bass. 



103 



the New York markets, the average retail price being twenty 

cents a pound. The smelt is eminently the winter sport for 

the angler, succeeding the white perch in small tidal creeks. 

This fish will also take the fly when sunk to their feeding 

level near the bottom. 

When twinkling icicles depend 

From woods that with the bright freight bend, 

When salty stream and open sound 

With adamantine ice are bound, 

Then o'er the solid frozen stream 

The tents of the smelt-fishers gleam ; 

Each opes with axe the crystal floor, 

Then patient watches at the door. 

THE SPEARING, OR SILVERSIDES. 

This is the same order of abdominales as the smelt and 
caplin, shoals with them, and is eminently a bait for the sal- 
mon and striped bass. Late in October, in a tideway, bait 
with this fish for striped bass. On Pelham Bridge, anglers 
are seen letting the line carry out with the strong tide this 
shiny bait, or casting with float, light swivel sinker, and this 
bait, which — where the most rapid current slackens toward 
an eddy — attracts the leap of a striped, satin-sided beauty, 
forcing the blood to the ends of the digits of the angler. The 
upper part of the head is rather flat, and the tiny gill rays 
are six in number, and the side-belt shines like silver. 

" Color. — Pale olive-green above the lateral line; opercles 
and sides silvery; obscure traces just below the lateral line 




104 Fishing in American "Waters. 




The Spearing, or Silyersides. — Genus Atherina. 

of a, broad satin-like band, extending the whole length of the 
body ; the place of the ribs indicates lustrous stripes, which 
disappear shortly after death; upper part of the opercles, 
near the nape, dark green ; caudal dark at the base, and with 
an obscure marginal band; dorsal caudal fins light green; 
pectorals, ventrals, and anal light colored, tinged faintly with 
bluish; irides silvery; bones of the head sub-diaphanous." 

The foregoing quotation is from De Kay's description of 
the smelt ; but he inadvertently described a spearing. I am 
not surprised at that, for they shoal together, and even Dr. 
Clerk, an angler and a scholar, did not know the difference 
until I casually pointed it out to him. 

When in the autumn's latest time. 

And first the streams run icy cold, 
In Indian summer's crimson prime, 

When forest trees are touched with gold, 
Then take the silvery fish that gleam 

Along the eddies of the stream. 

THE CAPLIN. 

This is the tiny, translucent fish, of from three to six inches 
in length, which shoals in great abundance on the shores of 
Newfoundland and Labrador, and is chiefly used as bait for 
cod. It will be seen that this fish belongs to the same order 
as the smelt and spearing, the chief difference consisting in 
its double anal fin. All codfish fleets employ a sloop, two 
row-boats, and a set of hands with caplin nets, to keep them 
supplied with bait. It is an interesting sight to Avitness a 
city of boats distributed over many miles of water in the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, or about Newfoundland, and the bait- 
tenders hauling seines over shoals and about islands where 
the tiny caplin resort for protection from the cod. So, it ap- 



Cod Bait in the Gulf of St. Lawkence. 105 

pears, Great Nature has wisely ordained that big fishes shall 
eat the little ones, and, to compensate for this consumption, 
fishes naturally increase many hundred fold faster than land 
animals, as before observed. 

I have presented these three great baits — the smelt, spear- 
ing, and caplin — for the angler's information, for I have been 
acquainted with many anglers who could not name the dif- 
ferent fishes when taken together in great masses. Shoals 
Ox these fishes are followed by salmon, codfish, and by the 
larger fishes of prey, such as the horse mackerel, cero, and 
bonetta, over which hover flocks of gulls, and ever and anon 
the latter swoop and shriek as they pick up the. debris float- 
ing on the surface left by the monsters as they follow and 
feed on the shoals of these tender delicacies. 






The Caplin. — Mattotus villosus. 
All the estuaries of rivers and shores of the St. Lawrence 
teem with the caplin, and sometimes with the smelt also, and 
occasionally with all these three shoaling together. They 
form the staple food of the silver trout of the estuaries. All 
these fishes spawn in the spring, and, therefore, I am sur- 
prised that they should be supposed to belong to any branch 
of the Salmo genus. 

SECTION SEVENTH. 
THE sea bass. 

Where low the level Jersey shore 
Spreads out its ribb'd and sandy floor, 
At break of day the fishers launch 
The little skiff, so swift and stanch, 
Spread the white sail, forsake the strand, 
To dare the ocean miles from land. 
Full well by shoremarks they may know 
Where reefs of weeds are hidden low ; 
G2 



106 Fishing- in American Waters. 

There, anchor'd at the dawn of day, 
They rob the marine banks of prey. 

The sea bass is not strictly a vegetarian, though it visits 
vegetable banks to spawn and feast upon the numerous small 
Crustacea which hide amongst sea-weed. It occupies a re- 
spectable place in the culinary calendar, and is preferred to 
cod for a chowder. It is eminently a coast fish, and seldom 
ventures far above the estuaries, bays, and back-waters, or 
bayous. The sea bass, porgee, and tautog banks along the 
coast of New Jersey form one of the attractions of Long 
Branch, and they are a real blessing to the members of the 
hand-line-committee, who realize in them a cheap relaxation 
from business and the lassitude caused by too constant work 
in a city during the heat of summer. 

v V V 




The Sea Bass. 



Several excursion steamers run every alternate day to the 
Fishing Banks, where they make a day's excursion for half a 
dollar, and whence often on the evening of the same day each 
passenger returns with three dollars worth of sea bass. A 
large business is done throughout the summer and autumn 
in the capture and sale of sea bass. 

The meat of the sea bass laminates in compact flakes, not 
so soft and watery as the cod, but more succulent and deli- 
cate in taste. This fish usually runs from three to twelve 
pounds, and is what angler's term a bottom-feeding fish, con- 
sequently not an especial favorite with the disciples of rod 



To Make a simple Chowder. 107 



and reel. Its feeding-grounds extend along the coast from 
Delaware to Maine, wherever the sea-weed grows from beds 
of mussels. This fish, like many herbivorous fishes of the 
Orient, lays its eggs, and they are vivified on the weeds and 
among the shells of the bottom. This process continues from 
May until August, and the shoals remain on the banks until 
most of their annual progeny leave the shell, when they all 
resort to deeper waters to winter. 

It is a ravenous fish to bite, and seldom breaks water until 
ready for the landing-net. Unlike the tautog, its mouth is 
large and leathery, easy to hook, and tenacious to hold. Its 
color is a bluish, and sometimes a greenish black, lightened a 
trifle at the lower parts of the sides and belly. Its scales are 
about a quarter of an inch in diameter, and its dorsal fins — 
while spinous — are not very hard; the other fins are soft- 
rayed, except the front ray of the anal. 

The sea bass is a boiler, but epicures regard it as superior 
in a chowder. Chowder clubs use no fish but sea bass. Lit- 
tle Neck clams improve the chowder, and, as I was for some 
time secretary of the Latourette Chowder Club, and superin- 
tended a combination of the gustatory elements, I will here 
describe a simple chowder for anglers. A common iron pot, 
of globular shape, is best to make a chowder in. Slice, as 
thin as possible, enough salt pork to cover the bottom and 
sides of the pot, to prevent the chowder from burning. Then 
cover the pork with a layer of quartered onions, which have 
been previously parboiled fifteen minutes ; then cover the 
onions with a layer of fish cut in two-inch-square pieces; 
then cover the fish with a layer of tomatoes ; then a layer of 
sea-biscuit ; then a layer of clams ; then a layer of onions, and 
continue the layers in the rotation described until the pot is 
filled. Season each layer with salt, and a mixture of red and 
black peppers, together with such other condiments as de- 
sired. Cover the pot, and let it stew or boil an hour ; then 
pour upon it from a pint to a quart of Chateau Margaux, or 
good Bordeaux claret, and let it simmer half an hour longer. 



108 Fishing in American Waters. 

Chowder should remain over the fire nearly two hours. This 
chowder has the merit of being simple, and — to a hungry 
sportsman — it is palatable, though not so epicurean as the 
chowder made by the late Daniel Webster, the receipt for 
which is given on another page. 

Chowder - parties and clam -bakes are American institu- 
tions, and they are indulged in annually in July and August 
throughout the whole length of the coasts of New York and 
New England. 

In a commercial point of view, the sea bass ranks with the 
tautog, and next to the cod, being consumed annually to the 
number of millions. 

For capture with rod and reel the common striped hass- 
tackle is used. I have taken hundreds of small ones in a day 
while angling for sheepshead. They take with equal voraci- 
ty shrimp, clam, and shedder crab. A shoal of a single pair 
of fish number probably five thousand which attain to the 
weight of half a pound and over; not more, because ground- 
sharks and other marine carnivora thin their ranks when fin- 
gerlings. Their feeding-time is during the lull of the waters, 
between the turn of the tides, when they yield themselves 
willing victims to the angler's captivating art. They weigh 
from half a pound to five pounds, and some shoals run from 
eight to fifteen pounds. As one of our common food fishes, 
it is a shade more respectable than most of those which have 
by quality and status been consigned to the hand-line multi- 
tilde. 

THE POKGEE. 

This fish runs from a quarter to three pounds in weight, 
and unites with the blackfish (tautog) and bergall (cachogset) 
to form the guerrilla army of thieves for robbing bait when 
the angler, with hooks too large for its mouth, is fishing for 
larger game. Its mouth is armed with pin-point teeth like 
those of the perch, and while it can not bite in two a single 
gut snell or thin linen line, is most dexterous in robbing bass 



A sly Bait Thief. 



109 



hooks, or mauling and mutilating the bait. It is a greedy 
little shiny sinner, which is both herbivorous and carnivor- 
ous, foraging on both fish and vegetable diets, and shoaling 
with the omnium gatherum of bottom fish, which make their 
summer habitations among the weedy banks called by then- 
name all along the coast from Maine to Georgia, from three 
to six miles from shore, purveying every where from their 
homes, into all the estuaries and tidal back-sets, for proven- 
der. The porgee is one of* the most numerous of coast fishes, 
and as greedy as it is plenty. Dr. Brown, in his Anglers' 
Guide, states that the steam-boat which runs daily to the 
porgee banks in summer returns with many thousand por- 



yC^^OQ^^Q 




The Porgej;;. — Pogrus Argyrops. 

gees, besides the sea bass and tautog, averaging from six to 
ten thousand as their daily catch with the hand-line. To the 
mechanics and clerks of the metropolis these daily excursions 
in midsummer to the fishing-banks are great blessings ; for, 
besides the inflation of the lungs with bracing sea-air, the 
change of scene, and the exercise out of doors, they bring 
back more than an adequate compensation for the pittance 
expended for the day's recreation. There can not be too 
many boats engaged in making fishing-bank excursions, pro 
vided the boats are sound and well managed. In general, 
the captains of excursion steamers are well acquainted with 
the topography of the banks, and know where to order the 



110 Wishing in American Waters. 

heaving of the anchor for good fishing. The charge for pas- 
sage includes hand-line tackle and bait, so that a man may 
start in the morning empty-handed, and be landed at home 
the same evening with a large mess of fish,. 

The porgee is a pan-fish of sweet and delicate flavor when 
first caught, but its juices soon become absorbed, and, with 
the loss of its juiciness, becomes nearly tasteless. While 
casting along the coast for striped bass, anglers frequently 
hook these nimble shiners, and the guides always draw them 
at once and place them in moss between a cleft of rocks for 
their own eating, preferring them to the striped bass. 

The porgee is supposed to spawn on the weedy banks with 
the sea bass and tautog early in spring, when the last year's 
hatch leave for estuaries, purveying to the head of tide- 
Avaters. In angling for this fish perch tackle is used. The 
rod is from ten to eleven feet in length, multiplying reel car- 
rying a hundred yards of fine linen or silk line, cork float, and 
swivel sinker, single -gut leader and snells, with minnow 
hooks. Taking them is pretty sport for ladies and children. 
Use shrimp or clam bait, and let the bait nearly cover the 
point of the hook; and where they are numerous — as they are 
throughout summer in nearly all tidal waters in and above 
the estuaries — the angler will pair them nearly every time 
he baits his hooks. The fashion is becoming more and more 
prevalent along the tidal waters of the Atlantic coast, where 
they are shut in from the heaving and throbbing of the sea, 
for whole families to take a seat in a row-boat toward even- 
ing, and row out to some favorite ground not far from shore, 
but at a sufficient distance to enjoy different landscape views 
of both shores, and there to anchor the boat and angle for 
porgees, with an occasional sea bass, squeteague, and black- 
fish. Rocking in a boat over the running tide is great food 
to vitality, and the evening scenes from the water, with the 
pleasing exercise of angling, are blessings to be thankful 
for. 



Lies Low and Looks Cunning. 



Ill 




1. Blue-striped Wrasse, Ldbrus mixtus. 2. Trumpet-fish, Sea-suipe, or Bellows-fish, 
Centriscus scolopax. 3. American Tautog, Tautoga Americana. 

The family of the wrasses, or rockfish, includes our com- 
mon bergalls, the New York tautog or common blackfish, and 
those fancy-colored species known as " old wives of the sea." 
Of the latter there are several varieties, such as the red old 
wife, the blue old wife, and the yelloio old wife, which are so 
named in accordance with their prevailing colors. The thick 
pouting lips of the fish of this family are their most striking 
characteristic. The wrasses were known to the poet Oppian, 
who describes the beds of sea-weed as their favorite places 
of resort : 

"And there thick beds of mossy verdure grew — 
Sea-grass, and spreading wrack are seen : below, 
Gay rainbow-fish, and sable wrasse resort." 

The foregoing is an extract from Willson's Fifth Reader, 
and forms a part of the " Glimpse of Ichthyology" which this 
work includes. 



112 Fishing in American Waters. 



THE TAUTOG, 

This fish (Fig. 3) is termed tautog along the coast of New 
England, and is equally well known as blackfish along the 
shores of Long Island and New Jersey, south of which it is 
not numerous, nor is it north of the Vineyard Sound, though 
it has greatly increased along Cape Cod within the- past fif- 
teen years. 

Wherever kelp and sea-weed cling 
To ramparts form'd of rugged rocks, 
The tautog finds a dwelling-place, 
Deep down in waters at their base ; 
Or where a passing boat hath met 
Its fate along the rocky shore, 
And, with its broken ribs and keel, 
Lies rotting on the ocean floor — 
There, where the clinging shell and weed 
Gather, and barnacles abound, 
The blackfish, seeking out their feed, 
In numbers by the hook are found. 

The tautog is one of the largest family of fishes which in- 
habit the waters along the coast from Vineyard Sound to Del- 
aware Bay. Urchins along shores begin fishing by taking 
cachogset, kunners, and bergalls — all of the diminutive car- 
nrvora or bait-robbers — and if, in their efforts, they succeed in 
capturing a tautog, the lucky urchin who thus succeeds to 
the first step of fishing thereafter scrapes money together to 
purchase a regular hand-line and two tautog hooks, with a 
heavy sinker. He then rigs a hand-line en regie, and consid- 
ers himself a juvenile member of the " hand-line-committee," 
not to be entitled to full membership until he can earn by 
fishing a miniature scow large enough to float two young- 
sters of from seven to ten years of age. Then, with a stone 
for anchor, they scull from clump to reef of rocks near the 
shores of our tidal estuaries and small bays, and once in a 
while add to their catches of blackfish a weakfish, or even a 
striped bass ! This achievement affords the barefooted regi- 
ment a week's discussion, and forthwith the lucky urchin be- 



Members of the HAND-LESfE-coMMiTTEE. 113 

comes the arbiter in all piscatorial disputes, as well as the 
counselor in all arrangements of fishing-tackle, until some 
other hoy takes a larger fish. 

But the hlackfish, or tautog, is not to he disdained hy the 
disciple of rod and reel. Though he is eminently a commer- 
cial fish, yet a tide-runner of his family which weighs from 
eight to twelve pounds makes such dips and runs as try both 
the angler and his tackle. A somewhat celebrated senator 
of Rhode Island (now the Chinese embassador) used annual- 
ly to spend several summer weeks in fishing for tautog with 
an artistically-rigged hand-line. He sculled his boat to the 
edge of the tide, on the bank between a rapid current and 
nearly slack water, and near an islet or reef of rocks in the 
Seconnet River, where the water is about fifteen feet deep ; 
anchored his punt firmly, standing up in the stern, and cast 
some seventy-five feet of line, armed with two hooks about 
two feet above the sinker, and baited with clam. In this 
way I have known him to take one hundred pounds of tau- 
tog in one hour. 

At the mouth of the Seconnet River there are numerous 
pounds, built of stone, or staked out with netting, for the 
purpose of catching tautog, porgee — or scapogue, as the 
large ones are called — and numerous minor bottom fry. Re- 
cently a salmon was caught in one of these infamous traps, 
and, if it is seriously contemplated to restore salmon to our 
deserted rivers, the first step should be to take up all nets 
fastened to stakes in the rivers and along the coast. 

Tautog are eaten while fresh. Neither the tautog or any 
other fish of the estuaries which is angled for are cured by 
salt or refrigeration. They are, as it were, hand-to-mouth 
fishes. Both the tautog and sea bass are kept alive many 
days, and sometimes weeks, in fish-cars anchored in water 
suited to their growth. The blackfish is next to the shad in 
affording the greatest amount of estuary fish to our markets. 
Its meat is watery, and the scales are so firmly set that some 
persons invariably lave them in vinegar before scaling. In 

H 



114 Fishing in American Waters. 

New England they generally skin the tautog, as an easier 
process than scaling, and consider it a culinary delicacy when 
properly cooked, of which there are three methods, i. e., broil- 
ing, frying, and stewing. Before frying the fish, score him 
across each side an inch apart, as you would any breakfast 
pan-fish. Fry some salt pork to a crisp ; take out the pork, 
and, while the fat is so hot as to be next to blazing, roll your 
fish in a mixture of rye and corn meal, and place it in the 
sparkling hot fat, and let it brown. Turn it-twice, and dredge 
it each time with flour, so that its crust will become an eighth 
of an inch thick. After broiling, and while piping hot, baist 
it with butter, salt it, and give it a simple dash of red pep- 
per, which stimulates without inflaming the stomach, and the 
slightest dash of black as a bouquet, though it does inflame 
the stomach without stimulating or assisting digestion. 

The following receipt by an editor ofquelque chose de gout 
is worth remembering : 

"Now, fair ruler of the destinies of dinner (for if thou beest 
a man I have no sympathies toward thee), smoke-compelling 
Betty, or Mary, or whatever else may be the happy appella- 
tive in which not only thou, but all of us rejoice, thou hast 
before thee one of the most delicately absorbent substances 
in nature, imbibing flavor from every thing which surrounds 
it, whether of adverse or of propitious tendency ;- subject, as 
Warren Hastings said of the tenure of the British possessions 
in India, alike ' to the touch of chance or the breath of opin- 
ion.' 

" Thou hast it, my choice Mary ! The small, deep stew- 
pan — with its thin cullender or strainer, on which the fish is 
to be lowered to the bottom, that it may, when stewed into 
soft delight, be gently raised again without injuring its integ- 
rity of form — glows with brightness in front of thee ! Thy 
vigorous arm of mottled red, thy round wrist, and' small, com- 
pact fingers, grasp the sharp-pointed knife with which to sat- 
isfy thyself that not one scale remains around the head, the 
fins, the tail. 



To CATCH AND COOK TAUTOG. 115 

" Now tail and fins are nicely shortened in their termina- 
tion, not hacked off. A little salt is thrown over the fish, 
merely to harden and not salt it, and it lies two hours for this 
purpose. It is then scored, that it may not break when it 
swells, and browned well upon the gridiron, from which it 
is carefully taken up, and laid to repose upon a bed of nicely- 
peeled and very fresh mushrooms, daintily spread over the 
strainer. 

" While the fish was hardening, Mary has had a communi- 
cation from up stairs. An extra bottle of the Chateau of 
twenty-five had been unavailingly opened the day before to 
tempt a total abstinence friend who had arrived from the 
country. Good part of it remains, and at this moment it is 
decanted into the stew-pan ; the freighted strainer descends 
into the wine, and the fish, entirely immersed in the amethys- 
tine element, regrets no more its loss of life, of liberty, and 
youth. A white onion or two is sliced into rings, that fall as 
decorations over him; a few berries of pepper thrown in ; six 
cloves ; two blades of mace ; an eschalot, if you think proper ; 
and Cayenne or not, according to your taste. The stew-pan 
is then covered, and a careful, slow, epicurean simmer com- 
pletes the work." 

During winter the blackfish hibernates under rocks in the 
bays and estuaries, as proven by the vent entirely closing 
and a thin film growing over the mouth. In the spring they 
appear with the dogwood blossom and the chestnut leaves. 

" When chestnut leaves are as big as thumb-nail, 
Then bite blackfish without fail ; 
But when chestnut leaves are as long as a span, 
Then catch blackfish if you can." 

In angling for the tautog, use a heavy bass rod, heavy trac- 
ing sinker like that for sheepshead, but hooks of the Virginia 
bend and short nib. Swivel sinkers are preferred by some. 
Let the point of hook be very sharp. Sometimes striped 
bass, sea bass, squeteague, grunters, and sheepshead feed with 
the tautog. It is necessary, therefore, to rig with as large a 



116 Fishing in American Waters. 

hook as will answer for small striped bass and squeteague, 
and one strong enough for tautog, or one rather larger than 
the common blackfish hook. Let your leader be part of your 
line, say three fourths of a yard long, and attached to a brass 
SAvivel ; run the line through the tracing sinker, and attach 
it to the upper end of the swivel. Bait with shrimp, shedder 
crab or shedder lobster, fiddler, soft or hard shell clam, or the 
sand-worm dug along the sandy shore at low tide. 

The tautog bites like the sheepshead, but with less power. 
You feel the premonition, but when he dashes aside the pull 
is weaker than that of a sheepshead. I mean now a tide-run- 
ning tautog of from three to eight pounds, which feeds on the 
edge of swift water, has a white nose, and is fair game. The 
tautog which feeds close to the base of the rocks is an adept 
at getting hooks or sinkers fastened in the clefts, for so soon 
as he bites he darts under or between the rocks, leaving the 
angler thankful if the fish will liberate the hook or sinker as 
the price of his freedom. The bite of a small blackfish of 
from one fourth of a pound to a pound is like that of a roach 
or sunfish, but large ones bite with energy, and play so as to 
afford sport. All the fishes angled for along the coast, except 
the striped bass and bluefish, are usually landed with a net. 
The color of the tautog is bluish-black, with a lighter shade 
under the belly and lower mandible. The mouth is furnish- 
ed with very small teeth. The engraving is a perfect coun- 
terpart of the fish in appearance. 

The Flounder. — Pleuronectes Flesus. 

The flounder is an important estuary fish for boys and hand- 
line fishers, though it is not appreciated very highly by rod 
fishermen. It is one of the latest fishes angled for in autumn 
when the icicles begin to form, and it is the first fish that 
bites in the spring. It is to be found in the estuaries and up 
the rivers as far as salt water runs ; also in our bays. It is 
a fish of the temperate zone, and, from its great numbers in 
spring in all the inlets from the Atlantic, is a profitable fish, 



A Biter and Broiler. 



117 



and a great "blessing to the poor. Though generally caught 
with a hand-line, many are taken in set^nets and fykes. With 
light perch tackle, small hooks, and clam bait, it furnishes 
sport to the disciple of rod and reel who does not fish for 
trout, and has no fishing in the vicinity of New York until 
the striped bass awaken to a feeding sense, which is usually 
from the first to the twentieth of May, toward the head of 
tide water. 

SECTION NINTH. 

THE BLUEFISH. 

Professor Mitchill has given to this fish, which affords 
more sport with the troll than any other, the classical name 
of Temnodon Saltator, the first from temno, to cut in pieces, 
probably indicating its sharp teeth ; and the last signifying 
a pantomime dancer, doubtless with reference to its leaping 
or skipping ; but, as if these names were not sufficiently de- 
scriptive, he adds those of Scomber Plumbeus, or leaden mack- 
erel. 




-- ■ — --'/ 

The Bluefish. — Temnodon Saltator. — Mitchill. 

The bluefish is known along the coast of ISTew England as 
the horse mackerel, but that is a different fish, and grows to 
the weight of a thousand pounds, and sometimes more, while 
the bluefish seldom attains to twenty, though I have heard 
of thirty-pounders. The color from the back to the almost 
imperceptible lateral line is a leaden blue, whence it gradu- 
ally lightens to a white belly. The first dorsal fin is spinous 
— very sharp and strong, while the second and anal are ap- 



118 Fishing in American Waters. 

j>roximately rigid, being fixed and translucent ; the rays, 
though not spinous, remain standing even after life is extinct. 
These fins are like sails always set, or like a centre-board 
above as well as in the keel. The body, head, and fins for 
half an inch are covered with infinitesimal scales. The jaws 
are very strong, and the gill-covers like three plates of steel. 
The jaws are armed with a row of strong, closely-set, sharp 
teeth, which will cut a cord of one fourth of an inch in diam- 
eter in two as smoothly as it could be done with a knife, for 
they are sharp-edged, and those of each jaw are like saw- 
teeth which match perfectly ; therefore beware of fingers in 
dislodging a hook from its powerful jaws. 

The young bluefish, which are hatched in quiet nooks of 
bays along the beaches, wag their way like other estuary 
younglings, without being provided with a bag of provision 
suspended by the umbilical cord, like the young of the Salmo 
genus, but by instinct they propel their tiny selves to the sa- 
line creeks and inlets from the sea, to prevent being devoured 
by the parents which visit the spawning beds early in June, 
to subsist on such of their young as have not yet emigrated. 
The young fish are vulgarly called " snapper" or " snapping 
mackerel," and are the bright little predacious thieves which 
steal by small particles the angler's bait before striped bass 
or squeteague can get a taste of it. In October, having 
grown to the weight of half a pound each, the shoal reunites 
preparatory to going into winter quarters, where the Gulf 
Stream keeps the water at an even temperature ; and if per- 
chance they meet gut snells on their way, they bite them in 
two without effort. During the last fortnight of their sojourn 
near the shore they purvey for young menhaden and spear- 
ing, but keep at a respectful distance from shoals of older 
fish. This is supposed to be the case with nearly all shoals 
of coast and estuary fishes, and a shoal is merely the progeny 
of one pair of fishes, and the hatch of one laying of ova. 
Though in summer they may wander apart for food, yet, 
warned by an unerring instinct, they reunite in autumn to 
form an army. 



Best fob, Table in October. 1i9 

The bluefish returns to our shores after its first voyage a 
two-pounder, being then one year old ; and by autumn these 
eighteen-months' old fish weigh from three to five pounds 
each ; but only those which weigh from five to fifteen pounds, 
with a semi-occasional twenty-pounder, are regarded as good 
sport for the troll. These large ones are seldom taken in 
pounds or nets, for they can liberate themselves with their 
teeth from almost any net or pen not made of steel ; but the 
younger shoals evince more prying curiosity, which leads 
many of them into nets fastened to ground fixtures in suffi- 
cient numbers to keep our markets supplied with them from 
Juno until November. 

But the midsummer bluefish, having recently spawned in 
our bays, are lean and dry food unless cooked within the same 
hour they are caught, when they are juicy and tender, but 
lack the rich succulency of the October shoals. The bluefish 
taken in autumn is equally good as a broiler, or to bake or 
souse, so long as it can be kept sweet by the use of ice. This 
is the case with every branch of the mackerel family ; and 
the bluefish of October, when canned in salt, is preferred by 
many to the common mackerel. Both the bluefish and mack- 
erel are in best condition from the middle of October until 
the tenth of November, when they begin to deteriorate and 
fall away to thinness, probably because the butter-fish and 
bay-shiners have settled away to hibernate, and the smelt and 
spearing have moved into brackish waters, leaving the blue- 
fish no alternative but to starve or move farther south, and 
within the influence of the Gulf Stream. 

It is well understood by amateurs and fishermen that the 
bluefish, like the prawn, visit our bays and estuaries period- 
ically, remaining sometimes only a season, and at other times 
several years. The present visit of the bluefish has been the 
longest one known to the oldest inhabitant of Long Island, 
having lasted twenty years. Every year since its present 
advent it has become more numerous and larger. In 1850, 
a ten-pound bluefish was a greater curiosity than is a twenty- 



120 



Fishing in American Waters. 



pound one now. Then, shoals of bluefish were rare ; now 
they are to be met with every where that the angler plies his 
gentle art along the Atlantic coast. 

In trolling for bluefish, metal squid are supposed to be the 
best, though bone, ivory, and pearl are frequently used in a 
light breeze for small fish. Large, heavy baits are best for 
large bluefish. The following engraving illustrates the 
shapes, and they should be made from five to six inches in 
length, or they can be purchased of the right weights and 
patterns at our best fishing-tackle stores. 




Bluefish Squids. 

No. 1. Material German silver, with a pearl plate inlaid on 
each side. The shank of the hook extends through the 
squids, and the trolling-line attaches to the ring by a 
double hitch, or to a strip of raw hide — which is better — 
that plays freely in the ring. The points of the hooks are 
at right angles with the width of the squid. 

No. 2. Block tin or Britannia metal, flat on the under side, 
and forming three edges, as represented. The loop at the 
end of the trolling-line closes at the hole in the end of the 
squid by thrusting the loop through and over the end of 
the squid. On each side of the middle there is a hole 
drilled, in which red webbing or burnt wool braid is in- 
serted, and a knot formed with it as represented, for either 
red cloth or blood attract nearly all snecies of game fish. 



Shajsp Hooks and Stkong Lines. 121 

The hooks should be very strong, and the points should be 
filed very sharp : this last piece of advice applies to all hooks 
for all kinds' of fishing, and its importance is not generally 
appreciated by amateur fishermen. 

Trolling-lines of cotton are better than linen lines. They 
should be hawser-laid, so as not to kink, and be from three 
eighths to a quarter of an inch in diameter. Although it is 
well to have them fifty yards in length, yet when the fish are 
feeding in earnest fifty feet is line enough to let off. Always 
fasten the end of your line to the boat, and in case you put 
outriggers, a check line should be attached to each to draw 
them to the boat or yacht, so as to take hold of them without 
disturbing the rigger. Lines to outriggers should be so short 
as to skitter on the surface of the water. 

Gloves of heavy woolen yarn should be worn ; the line 
will wear through leather much quicker than through wool, 
and woolen gloves do not slip, and they ai*e more comforta- 
ble to the hands. It is common to double the gloves over 
the forefinger and on the under side of the little fingers. 
Buckskin or dogskin, the two best kinds of leather .to use 
when wet, are only a momentary protection, good for noth- 
ing as trolling-gloves or thumb-stalls. 




The Flying Fish. 



122 



Fishing in American Waters. 




Trim the white sail ; the rising breeze 

Blows freshly from the open seas ; 

It ripples over ocean's breast, 

Tips with the foam each billow's crest. 

Now cast astern the dripping line, 

That cuts and whistles through the brine. 




TROLLING FOR BLUEFISH. 

rolling for bluefish by; 
New York sportsmen is 
generally clone in sail- 
boats, and the flood tide is 
best. Therefore, whether 
we start with sail-boat or 
yacht from the city, or go 
to Islip or South Oyster 
Bay, or to Rockaway or 
Canarsie to sail from, it is 
best to sail out to the feed- 
ing-grounds during the ebb 
tide, so as to be sure of no 
delay after the fish begin 
to bite ; and as the fish a'p- 



How to Sail akd Troll. l 123 

proach nearer shore with the rising tide, the sail-boats may 
be working nearer home, so as not to be obliged to stem a 
strong ebb tide in returning to port. The best grounds for 
large bluefish are outside and near the inlets of Fire Island. 
These inlets are formed by the tides of the Atlantic passing 
through Fire Island into the South Bay; the principal ones 
are opposite Islip and South Oyster Bay. But late in the 
fall the best trolling is off Rockaway and Jamaica Bay, the 
grounds extending from the Highlands, off the Jersey shore, 
to some ten miles below the light-ship. 

As a sample of the sport, I will recount my last day's ex- 
perience. My respected friend Gilsten having retired nearly 
twenty years ago to the charming village of Fort Hamilton, 
of which he owns the greater part, residing on the border 
of the trolling-grounds, and in close proximity to the favor- 
ite resorts of sheepshead, sqneteague, and kingfish, has given 
his exclusive attention to field-sports for many years, angling 
and trolling in the waters between New York City and the 
Narrows until November, when he repairs to his island near 
the coast of Virginia, and shoots duck and wild geese until 
the first of January. Being a gentleman of good taste and 
large experience, as he could not angle in the winter, he has 
kindly employed his time in designing trolls and stools for 
fishing and shooting. Well, my friend Gilsten called at my 
office one evening late last October, and left me two squids, 
with notice that the bluefish were biting generously in the 
Lower Bay, and that he would be obliged if I would try his 
newly-designed models, of which the foregoing samples were 
copies. I therefore acted promptly upon his generous advice, 
and called on my angling friend Charles Gaylor and several 
others, all of whom agreed to meet me promptly next morn- 
ing at seven o'clock at the yacht moored in Jamaica Bay. 
Of course none of them came to time ; and as Captain Morri- 
son brought the yacht alongside the dock, a haze, perceptible 
on the waters, was just lifting at the rise of the sun. A gen- 
erous breeze flapped the sails of the trolling crafts lying-to 



124 Fishing in American Waters. 

awaiting company, but nearly all the trolling fleet had sailed 
hours before, and the lowness of the ebb tide warned us not 
to delay. We therefore wore away, passing between Barren 
Island and Rockaway Beach, amid shrieks of gulls and flights 
of duck, the sun lighting up the beach and the breakers, and 
rendering them scintillant as they flashed upon us between 
the clouds of fog which at fitful turns enveloped us. Pres- 
ently a gentle, fog-subduing warmth, with wind freshening, 
made our jolly craft dance along, and all nature appeared de- 
lightsome. 

" On the surface ranging, boys, 
We'll beat from bay to bay ; 
Sea and water changing, boys, 
It's the angler's way : 
So we troll, 
One and all, 
And cheerily, cheerily pass the day." — Stoddart. 

We passed on near the Black Warrior, whose battered 
wreck was lifted silently above the waves as a warning to im- 
potent man against rashness. Toward the Narrows and the 
light-ship the fleet of trollers were gayly tacking and cross- 
ing each other's wakes hither and thither over the bluefish 
shoals, so that, ; 

' ' Why sure, thought they, 
The devil's to pay, 
'Mongst folks above the water." 

Soon we joined the merry fleet. Our trolls had been put 
out as we entered the bay, and our outriggers from each side 
of the craft, a little aft of midships, consisting of stiff poles 
with a line attached to the end of each, and a troll at the oth- 
er end, but the line so short that the troll skittered on the top 
of the waves. A check line was fastened to the main one, 
with its end in the boat, so as to draw the main line in with- 
out moving the hoop-pole rod to which it was attached. In 
addition to the two outriggers we had four trolling-lines out, 
the ends of which were fastened to the taffrail of the boat. 
Captain Morrison took the first fish, a ten-pounder. " Small;" 
said the captain. Presently a whirl was made at one of my 



Gay Parties all Engaged. 125 

squids ; another clash, and he hooked himself. I took hold to 
pull him in hand over hand, but the pull was quite enough 
for me. Before I landed him another was on my other squid, 
which my helper landed. Now a whopper fastened to my 
first hook, and I found him difficult to draw in; he weighed 
nearly twenty pounds, and was as much as I could manage. 
The prospect was most gay and enlivening, as the fleet con- 
sisted of small sail-boats, cat-boats, sloops, schooners, and 
yachts, over sixty in all, crossing and jibing, while the trail- 
ers were tugging and hauling at fish, and all seemed to vie 
with the. jollity of the gulls and the fun of the loons, which 
kept jabbering, with now and then a scream and hurrah, as 
if they joined in our sport. 

We continued trolling until noon, when the wind died away 
and we turned our craft homeward. We counted our take, 
which numbered thirty-six fish, and weighed four hundred ancr 
eighty pounds, averaging over thirteen pounds each. Thus 
ended one of the most interesting, health-giving, and delight- 
ful days of the season. 

Trolling with sail and row boats in September and October 
is extensively indulged in by amateurs and professional fish- 
ermen who fish for a livelihood along the shores from the 
east end of Massachusetts to Chesapeake Bay ; and as the 
shoals begin to turn southward in September, the best troll- 
ing is in October along Long Island and the Jersey shores, 
after which the angling is good along the coasts of Maryland 
and Virginia up to December. 

Although the bluefish is sufficiently plucky to take a coarse 
troll, and few venture to angle for him with ordinary tackle, 
even with gimp snells, yet, with good bass-tackle and strong 
hooks, either wound with copper wire on a heavy gimp lead- 
er or snell, or with a hook fastened with wire to a piano 
string, capital sport is found at still-baiting for them from a 
boat anchored along the edge of tideways in the estuaries 
and near the shores of bays. The coa^ t of Rhode Island, and 



126 Fishing in American Waters. 

the islands which form the Elizabeth group, are filled with 
shoals of them all summer and fall, where they forage for 
menhaden and young mackerel ; and, anchoring in either of 
the straits which separate those islands, we find that the cast 
of a menhaden bait is usually met by the generous offers of 
half a dozen fish, whose whirls make the tide boil. Were it 
not that the electrical jerk of the bite of a large bluefish has 
such great power in it as to make the angler sometimes feel 
that he too is being fished for, and that its teeth are so sharp 
as to make strong and heavy tackle necessary, it would be 
considered incomparably the highest game-fish of the Ameri- 
can coast. 

When estimating the value of anglers' fishes by the play 
they give, and the sceney into which the angler is led in 
^search of each kind, the bluefish must occupy a foremost 
rank ; and the man who has neither trolled nor still-baited for 
this peculiar fish — the best breakfast fish on our coast except 
the Spanish mackerel — has two treats in store, which, the 
sooner he improves, the earlier he will regret that he had not 
' tasted before. 

section; tenth. 

THE SPANISH MACKEREL. 

Lovely with all their spangled dyes, 
Fairer than flush'd autumnal skies, 
With gold-drops all their sides a-glow, 
Tinct like the rainbow's prismy bow, 
The Spanish mackerel gorgeous roam 
The rolling, yeasty world of foam ; 
Now glittering o'er the wares they skim, 
Now lost in deep abysses swim. 

This incomparable breakfast luxury is a comparative stran- 
ger to us, and, though never known to venture as far north 
as the fortieth degree of latitude until about ten years since, 
yet his families are now as numerous on our coast as are those 
of most other estuary fishes. He is coy and careful, slow to 
make acquaintance, and doubtful of a squid or baited hook. 



Beauty Unadorned. 127 

A select family of the mackerel tribes, lie is not yet fully un- 
derstood by either amateurs or fishermen, and commands a 
higher price than salmon in the markets. Apart from being 
the greatest beauty that swims, he is undoubtedly the best 
fish for the gridiron to be found in the waters of either hem- 
isphere. 




The Spanish Mackeeel. 

My experience in trolling for the Spanish mackerel off the 
inlets of Fire Island has convinced me that the fish is as nu- 
merous as the bluefish, more so than the striped bass at cer- 
tain seasons, and a little farther seaward than either of those 
fishes. The striped bass is the fish which ventures nearest 
shore ; the bluefish feeds in a range farther from shore, and 
the Spanish mackerel feeds farther from shore than either, 
except the large bluefish at the last of the season. Every 
year the shoals of Spanish mackerel become more numerous, 
and more are taken, but never in sufficient numbers to reduce 
the average price below sixty cents per pound. 

The shoals which I saw, when last trolling for them, would 
have formed an area of nearly five miles square, and still the 
most successful boat did not take more than a dozen in three 
days. He will not bite freely at any artificial lure, and 
though numbers came near leaping on the deck of our yacht, 
they treated our lures with an indifference which savored of 
perverseness. " Oh !" thought I, " how I would like to be an- 
chored in a small boat, and still-bait for you with a pearl 
squid, a shiner, or a gar-eel !" But the difficulty was that 
their favorite feeding-grounds seemed to be just beyond the 
verge of anchorage for a row-boat. This fish is eminently 
shy of all kinds of nets, and, when a shoal is surrounded by a 



128 Fishing in American Watees. 

shir-net or seine, will point their heads down in the bottom of 
sand or weeds, and the nets glide over their backs without 
capturing one. Two intelligent fishermen of the south side 
of Long Island, men well learned in their trade, and who 
have for many years followed fishing successfully, concluded 
that they would turn their exclusive attention to the Spanish 
mackerel, and, by studying their habits and watching their 
movements, invent some plan for their capture, and thus en- 
rich themselves. They persevered for three years, trying all 
sorts of artificial lures, differently constructed nets and fykes, 
set in different ways, besides employing the Spanish casting- 
net ; but their patience became so exhausted that they re- 
linquished the enterprise, and had learned to look at a shoal 
leaping so that thousands were above the wave at a time 
without causing the slightest emotion or sensation of either 
hope or fear. A few silly fish occasionally stray away from 
their shoal, and are found in a fyke or pound, and an occasion- 
al one hooks himself by indulging a dangerous curiosity; but 
the genius who will invent a successful method for taking 
the Spanish mackerel maybe as sure of a fortune as the person 
who owns a goose which lays a large egg of gold every day. 
The Spanish mackerel is much more beautiful than the 
dolphin, even when the latter is dying. Its back and sides, 
down to the corrugated lateral line, are dark blue, shot with 
purple and gold ; below the line it is pink and gold for a 
short way, terminating in a white belly. The shaded parts 
of the body are ornamented with spots of gold, like new gold 
dollars, to the number of between twenty and thirty. Its 
scales are imperceptible to the naked eye, but they extend a 
short way up the fins also. The first dorsal is spinous-rayed, 
and the first rays of the second dorsal and pectoral arc spin- 
ous; all the rest are soft, though the tail and anal fins are 
nearly rigid or set, and do not fall together or close like those 
of the common mackerel. There is a small adipose fin on 
each side extending from the tail three inches upward. Its 
head is a perfect cut-water, carved most artistically, and small 



The Breakfast Luxury of the Age. 129 

in proportion. Its jaws are armed with small, fine teeth, that 
laugh at silk or linen reel-lines; gills of two rigidly resisting 
plies; meat white, but neither mealy nor flaky, though of 
close texture, creamy and peculiarly delicate, of most deli- 
cious flavor. 

The Spanish mackerel is seldom taken with rod and reel, 
though small ones of from three to six pounds sometimes 
venture to taste a baited hook. I have taken two while 
angling for striped bass with shedder crab bait ; but it is em- 
inently a fish for the troll, if captivating trolls can be invent- 
ed. These fish surround a shoal of gar-eels, butter-fish, shin- 
ers, spearing, or young menhaden, Avhen the tiny baits — anx- 
ious to escape — rise to the surface, followed by the Spanish 
mackerel, which may be seen two miles distant, leaping, a 
thousand at a time, their forked tails conspicuous, and their 
bodies gleaming like miniature rainbows. The bite of a Span- 
ish mackerel is very different from that of a bluefish. It is 
not so dashing or strong ; and when hooked, it swims deeper, 
and does not resist so pertinaciously. In size it ranges from 
three to fifteen pounds. It is often reported as having been 
taken of thirty pounds' weight, but this, I think, is an error. 
The bonetta is very like it in outline, and it is also a compar- 
ative stranger along our coast ; one of these fish was recently 
taken in Jamaica Bay which weighed about thirty pounds, 
and the daily papers noticed it as a large Spanish mackerel ; 
but the bonetta — as a food fish — is vastly inferior. 

Both the Spanish mackerel and cero are spring-spawning 
fishes, and no doubt spawn in our bays, for there are occa- 
sionally small ones taken by the angler in June, before the 
large ones visit our shores, and I argue, therefore, that the 
small half-pounders are of last year's hatch. 

Spanish mackerel and large bluefish shoal together while 
feeding, and woe be it to any soft-rayed herbivorous beauty 
that crosses their path. Bluefish and striped bass feed to- 
gether also, but the bass swims deeper than the bluefish, and 
generally nearer shore. This is frequently proven while cast- 

I 



130 



Fishing in American Waters. 



ing for striped bass ; for if the cast be made beyond a certain 
range, the angler is sure of a bluefish, if any thing. 

I have here roughly sketched a part of a shoal of Spanish 
mackerel feeding. To troll with hope of success for these 




Spanish Mackerel Feeding. 

delicacies, employ a light, swift-sailing craft, and rig it with 
a long outrigger on each side ; for a heavy vessel cleaving a 
shoal disperses the live bait on which they are feeding, and 
the fright causes the shoal to settle without biting. Fre- 
quently have I trolled through a shoal of thousands, with 
hundreds in sight all the time, and as the craft passed through 
and got far enough from the shoal to tell, I have felt the bite, 
and, while drawing the fish in, have commented upon the ease 
of detecting the difference between the Spanish mackerel on 
my troll from the hard-mouthed bluefish, only to be laughed 
at a moment afterward as I landed a bluefish in the boat. 
Said I, " This is, of course, a Spanish mackerel ; any novice 
might distinguish him by his bite ; and then he comes in so 
gently, but swims low." I can detect by the bite, when still- 
baiting, almost any kind of estuary fish ; but in trolling any 
angler is liable to be deceived. 

From the limited experience thus far gained by using 



Cueious Fancy of Fishes. 



131 



bright metal trolls, not one Spanish mackerel in ten thousand 
will pay the least regard to them. Having ascertained that 
they feed on several kinds of fishes, the squid-makers have 
recently obtained some data to work from, and the following 
are the latest and most captivating samples. 




Spanish Mackerel Squids. 

A. Artificial squid or bait, made of Britannia metal, block tin, 
or German silver. The hooks of all trolls should be tinned 
or silver-plated. The shank of the hook extends through 
the squid, and forms an eye to attach a trolling-line. Feath- 
ers extend beyond the bend of the hook to form the tail 
of the gar-eel. The form of the squid is tapering, cylin- 
drical, and about five inches long exclusive of the hook. It 
should be kept polished as bright as possible, and is a very 
taking lure. A tail of red ibis feathers would probably be 
the most attractive. 

B. Squid as bright as polished silver, inlaid with pieces of 
pearl, and intended to represent a sea -shiner, about five 
inches long besides the hook. The line is attached by a 
hole in the end, and at the other there are several small 
feathers from the red ibis. The shape of the body is half 
as thick as it is wide, and in order to render it as ponder- 
ous as possible for its size, it is best to cast it of lead over 
the hook, then plate it with copper, and plate or wash it 
with silver. Spanish mackerel do not generally feed on 
fish as large as the bluefish bait, and it is therefore impor- 



132 Fishing- m American Waters. 

tant to have a small but ponderous bait attached to a fifty- 
yard line of the smallest size for trolling. The jaw of the 
Spanish mackerel is tender, therefore he plays more gin- 
gerly, and does not resist so hard in landing as does the 
bluefish ; but he should be handled carefully, and prevent- 
ed from taking slack line, as he unhooks easily. 
My opinion is that this fish will yet be taken in great num- 
bers with rod and reel. As they annually become more nu- 
merous, they come farther into the estuaries and back-sets 
from the bays along the coast, and after they get a taste of 
shedder and soft-shell crab, with smelt in abundance, and a 
modicum of spearing and shrimp, they will soon make them- 
selves more familiar, and accept the dainties offered on the 
angler's hook ; and when once fairly converted, he will afford 
the angler better sport than the salmon or the striped bass. 

SECTION ELEVENTH. 

THE BONETTA, OR BONITO. 

The bonetta is the beautiful and swift fish after which one 
of our war vessels of the Revolution was named. The Span- 
ish name is bonito. I prefer the other name because of its 
associations. This fish is found in great numbers about the 
"West India Islands, where it preys on the flying-fish. His 
first arrival along our beaches and in our bays was about 
eight years ago, and his shoals have increased remarkably 
fast ever since his advent. As a table luxury it ranks with 
epicures below the striped bass and bluefish, but because of 
its comparative rarity it commands a price rather above 




The Bonetta, or Bonito. — Thymus pelamys. — Cuvier. 



Loves Flying-fish, laughs at Trolls. 133 

either. The numbers of this fish annually taken about the 
approaches to our harbors with the troll and in nets increase, 
so that it bids fair to become nearly as numerous as the blue- 
fish. Of the shoals which venture along the shores of beaches 
or breakwaters, the fish range in weight from five to fifteen 
pounds, while farther south they are said to attain to the 
weight of nearly a hundred. 

The menhaden of our shores form the leading attraction to 
the food-fishes of the troll, and they are so prolific that, if they 
can be protected against oily speculators, there will be no 
danger of our losing entirely any of the large food-fishes of 
the coast. 

The bonetta is very beautiful, having a dark greenish-blue 
back, which lightens to midsides, and terminates in a satiny 
white belly. The diagonal rays are nearly black, and extend 
a little below the sinuous lateral line. The first dorsal is 
spinous, as are the first rays of the second dorsal and pecto- 
ral. The tail is framed by two spinous rays, and never closes. 
The anal-fin is also rigid. There is an adipose fin about three 
inches long from the tail up the lateral line, as on the Spanish 
mackerel and cero. The mouth is armed with teeth both 
strong and sharp. The tufts of fins from the second dorsal 
and anal to the tail add to its superior means of propulsion, 
and its shape, being perfectly adapted to cleaving the waters, 
prove it to be one of the swiftest fishes of the soundings and 
harbor approaches. Its scales are so small as not to be seen 
without the aid of glasses. It is usually taken on a large 
metal squid in trolling for bluefish, and very few have been 
caught in fykes and pounds. It is a very voracious fish, and 
generally in good condition and very gamy. It spawns about 
June in our bays, but probably earlier in the season farther 
south. While angling in company with Alderman Dodge, 
last year, in Jamaica Bay, he took one which weighed less 
than a pound, on shedder-crab bait ; it was one of a shoal 
hatched the year previous. Some fishing naturalists state 
that it spawns about the islands of the Western Archipelago, 



134 Fishing m Ameeican Waters. 

where it is known as the " albicore," and comes to Northern 
waters for recuperation. Others suppose it to be the " tunny," 
which follows ships for the crumbs from the table, and at- 
tains, off" the coast of Spain and in the Mediterranean, the 
weight of a thousand pounds. I do not believe the bonetta 
to be similar to the tunny, but I know that it is called albi- 
core by some Southern fishermen. The fishes of our coast 
and estuaries which I name as belonging to the troll are sup- 
posed to be of this hemisphere, and are spine-rayed families 
of the mackerel tribes. I am often surprised at the innocence 
of intelligent anglers, who do not know a cero from a Spanish 
mackerel, nor the latter from a bonetta, or a spearing from a 
smelt, and can not distinguish the great Northern pike from 
the maskinonge. 

SECTION TWELFTH. 

THE CEBO, CEKUS, OE SIEEEA. 

It is rather a cereus matter to ascertain the names of such 
fishes as ichthyologists have left out of their catalogues; and 
as I make no pretensions of claiming this to be a school-book, 
the angler will please scan the illustrations which I made per- 
sonally from the fishes of which these are intended to be true 
copies. 




The Cero, Cekds, or Sierra. 
The cero is evidently a member of one of the mackerel 
tribes, and in esculent quality ranks between the Spanish 
mackerel and bonetta. It is a new visitant along the shores 
from Virginia to Rhode Island, but it is quite numerous in 
the "West Indies. It evidently spawns in spring-time; is 
white-meated ; ranges in weight from four to twelve pounds ; 
is longer in proportion to its weight than any other of his 



The Estuaky Sentinel. 



135 



mackerel kindred ; an individual specimen a yard in length 
weighs from six to eight pounds only. The cero is of a lead- 
en color on the back and sides ; belly and belly-fins white ; 
back and sides sprinkled thickly with black dots nearly the 
size of peas. The first dorsal is spinous, as are also the first 
rays of the pectorals and second dorsal ; all the others are 
rigid, but not spinous. The frame of the tail is spinous, but 
the tail is translucent ; it has an adipose fin each side on the 
lateral line at the tail. Its jaws are armed with serrulated 
teeth which laugh at any cords softer than copper wire. I 
believe that none have yet been taken with rod and reel, 
though they are said to be very ravenous biters and ambi- 
tious vaulters, which can leap much higher than a salmon. 
They are taken in increased numbers annually by persons 
while trolling with common Britannia metal squids for blue- 
fish. This fish has no apparent scales. 

THE HORSE MACKEREL. 

his monster mackerel is sup- 
posed to be a " thynnus" as 
some members of its family 
weigh nearly a ton; but I 
may be in error, and the fish 
may be the head of the 
mackerel tribes, whose fam- 
ily commands the coast from 
Nantucket to the Straits of 
Belle Isle. At Quebec and 
Gaspe it is called "Bluefish." 
The name may have been de- 
rived from its leaden color, 
and having a head like the New York bluefish, though its 
body discloses a few mackerel marks, and its tail is like that 
of the bonito. While in Gaspe I sketched the head and tail 
of a horse mackerel which had just been harpooned in the 
Bay of Gaspe by Thomas Morland, Esq. The fish weighed 




136 Fishing in American Waters. 

seven hundred and fifty pounds, was nine feet in length, and 
six feet in circumference. The illustration here given is a 



The Horse Mackerel. — Genus Thynnus. 

copy of my sketch of the fish made from still life. As Gaspe 
is a great fishing port, the " old salts" would have detected 
this fish as a tunny, had it been one. That it is a great deli- 
cacy for the table is proven by its marketable value, which 
nearly equals, per pound, that of the salmon in the vicinity 
where both fishes are taken. It is stated that this fish attains 
to the weight of two thousand pounds, but it is very rare to 
take one of more than a thousand. This eight-hundred- 
pounder towed the boat to which the line of the harpoon 
was fastened nearly five miles. They are taken, like the 
swordfish, by sailing for them ; and when coming on a shoal, 
or even a single one, a well-aimed harpoon is sent into the 
fish where its head unites to the body, and then the towing- 
line is manned carefully, and the fish tows the boat until he 
gets fatigued, and, when in a fainting condition, the lance 
bleeds him in the gills, and he is towed alongside until his 
powerful rigid tail has made its last flap ; then he is raised 
into the boat, a subject of wonder to the amateur. I think 
the horse mackerel one of the links in the chain of fishes 
whose head is the tunny, and which rank as follows : Tunny, 
horse mackerel, bonetta, bluefish, Spanish mackerel, cero, 
winding up with the common mackerel, which — as the bar- 
ber said of the baker when asked to shave a coal-heaver — 
" is as low as we go." 

It will be seen by the conformation of the horse mackerel 



Habits of Fishes Illustrated. 137 

that his propulsive power is equal in proportion to that of 
the bluefish, and so are his teeth. The foot or hand of a man 
would stand no chance in the jaws of this monster delicacy. 
Talk of the bad reputation of the Siluriis glanis of the Dan- 
ube because portions of human bodies have been found in 
their stomachs ! the horse mackerel would make nothing of 
chopping up both man and fish. This is not a fish for the 
troll, or the rod and reel ; for it is as strong in proportion to 
its weight as the bluefish, and it would trouble an angler to, 
kill a thirty-pound bluefish, or even take him in by trolling. 
But sailing for horse mackerel is rare sport ; and I would ad- 
vise those about New Bedford and Martha's Vineyard, who 
delight so much in sailing for and harpooning swordfish, to 
sail down about Nantucket for horse mackerel, where they 
are comparatively numerous. 

To conclude : Having presented the best samples of the . 
coast and estuaries for affording sport by the recreative art 
of angling, I will postpone for the present the description of 
those commercial fishes which belong of right to the harpoon, 
the net, and the hand-line. 

Pale student, who consumes the night 
With learned vigils till the light ; 
Merchant, who toils in city street 
Through all the summer's fervid heat ; 
All ye tired sons of gold and gain, 
Turn from your weary tasks of pain, 
And haste to wood, and bay, and stream, 
Where health, and joy, and sunshine beam. 




art Second. 



FRESH-WATER FISHING 



FLY AND BAIT. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE POETKY OF ANGLING. 
SECTION FIRST. 



' The patient angler threads the wind- 
ing brook, 
Tempting the dainty trout with gilded 

bait; 
And ever and anon, as fleecy clouds 
Pass o'er the sun, the fish voracious 

darts 
From the cool shadows of some mossy 

bank, 
Swallows the bait with one convulsive 

act, 
And learns too late that death was at 

the feast ; 
While the glad sportsman feels . the 

sudden jerk, 
And plays his victim with extended 

line, 
Swiftly he darts, and through the glit- 
tering rings 
The silken line is drawn with ringing 

sound, 
Till, wearied out with struggling that 

but serves 
To drive the barbed weapon deeper 

still, 
He seeks his quiet shelter 'neath the 

bank, 
And thence in triumph to the shore is 

borne, 
A prize that well rewards a day of 

toil." 



The question has been discussed by hundreds of enlight- 
ened minds, from King Leopold to Bill Kromer — from men 
highest in the sciences and most exalted in the state, to the 
lowest in worldly means and position, as to who can ade- 




142 Fishing in American Waters. 

quately describe the pleasures that surround the angler? 
The most compendious, truthful, and summary is contained 
in the poetical exclamation of O. W. Holmes in the following 
couplet : 

" Oh ! what are the treasures we perish to win, 
To the first little minnow we caught with a pin !" 

But who can catalogue the pleasures which cluster around 
the angler's pursuit ? He pursues his avocations amid scenes 
of beauty. "It is he who follows the windings of the silver 
river, and becomes acquainted with its course. He knows 
the joyous leaps it takes down the bold cascade, and how it 
bubbles rejoicingly in its career over the rapids. He knows 
the solitude of its silent depths, and the brilliancy of its shal- 
lows. He is confined to no season. He can salute Nature 
when she laughs with the budding flowers, and when her 
breath is the glorious breath of spring. The rustling sedges 
make music in his ear when the mist has rolled off the sur- 
face of the water, or the dew been kissed from the grass by 
the sun's rays." The lark sings for him, and robin red-breast, 
with the brown thrush and jolly bobolink, pipe and chirp 
their mellifluous notes along his path. The gorgeous king- 
fisher heeds him not, and the meadow-hen seldom moves from 
her nest as he passes. The storm and the tempest scarcely 
hinder his sport. He throws the line when ruddy Autumn 
gilds the western heavens, and the fruit of the year hangs 
heavy on the bough, or waves in golden abundance on the 
uplands. Even stern Winter does not forbid him his enjoy- 
ment. If he cares to pursue his favorite pastime, he may do 
so equally when the tall bulrushes, wavy reeds, and chestnuts 
rattle with December's winds, as when the marsh marigold 
opens its big yellow eyes on an April day, or the birds of all 
song, size, and feather congregate along the streams, and teter 
on the sprays that kiss the ripples, while they chirp and ca- 
vort with their mates on yonder side the stream. The au- 
tumn trolling season over, the angler begins to think of the 
springing into life of all nature, when again the frogs begin 



Antiquity of the Gentle Akt. 143 

to croak, the trout to leap, the wild geese to honk, the kine 
to low, and material nature gushingly bursts forth into new 
life and loveliness. If he is an ardent sportsman, the whole 
year is before him. When the trout in spring, the salmon in 
summer, the striped bass in early autumn, and the trolling 
for bluefish, Spanish mackerel, cero, and bonetta wind up the 
falling season, he may hie to the Carolinas and Florida, where 
the oranges, amid labyrinths of flowers, greet his senses, and 
there troll for black bass and angle for bream to his heart's 
content. 

"It was always so in the infancy of mankind; the finny 
tribes were pursued by a primitive people with as much ar- 
dor as they are by civilized men at the present time. Sav- 
age and cultivated nations equally followed, either as a busi- 
ness or as a pastime, the occupation of capturing fish with 
a line and hook, with or without a rod. We find its praises 
celebrated in ancient poetry, and its memory embalmed in 
holy writ."' The rudest appliances of a savage life have been 
used to aid the angler at his delightful task, and science has 
not disdained to aid the modern fisherman in his sport. 
There are tribes who yet fashion fish-hooks out of human jaw- 
bones, and the Saxons managed to snare fish with hooks 
formed of flint. Indeed, the Anglo-Saxon race have followed 
angling with an energy and a zest far beyond any other na- 
tion, not excepting the Chinese, whose great perseverance is 
devoted rather to cultivate fishes than in snare them. We 
know the inhabitants of the British Isles pursued it as a prof- 
itable occupation in remote times, and we have it on the au- 
thority of the venerable Bede that the people of Sussex were 
at one time preserved from famine by being taught by Wil- 
fred to catch fish. Among the earliest printed books is one 
on fishing, by Dame Jvdiana Berners or Barnes, prioress of 
the nunnery of Sopwell, near St. Alban's. This book was 
printed in 1496. The old lady shows that if sport fails the 
ambitious angler, his time is not spent in vain, for has he not, 
" atte the leest, his holsom walke, and merry at his ease, a 



144 Fishing in American Wateks. 

swete ayre of the swete sauvoure of the meede flowres, that 
makyth him hungry ; he hereth the melodyous armony of 
fowles ; he seeth the young swannes, heerons, ducks, cotes, 
and many other fowles with theyr brodes ; whyche me sem- 
yth better than all the noyse of houndys, the blastes of 
hornys, and the scrye of fowlis, that hunters, frunkeners, and 
fowlers do make. And," says the good old lady, " if the an- 
gler take fysshe, surely their is no man merier than he is in 
his spyryte." 

Angling, in modern times, is the most refined of all field- 
sports. If the angler take a fish, he knows that it is only one 
of a spawn of from a thousand to many hundred thousands, 
and that all shoals which can, prey on one another. Not only 
so, but the old prey on their own offspring ; and from the 
time when the mother fish appears in the sjDawning-pools, 
there are several milt fish waiting to gorge themselves with 
the ova ; and so, during all stages of fishhood, the larger eat 
the lesser ones, and — as cold-blooded animals — they can not 
be susceptible to an acute sense of pain. These truths can 
not be said in favor of killing a land animal, whose annual 
procreative increase never amounts to a tithe of any individ- 
ual of the oviparous fishes. 

The innocence of angling is therefore a feature which has 

commended it to the good of all ages. " When bank and 

meadow lie starred and enameled with flowers; when the 

trill of the song-bird issues from every thorn ; when all sounds 

and all prospects are joyous and exhilarating, and the cloud 

itself, sleeping high in the arch of heaven, is as the honored 

presence of some benevolent watcher ;" with the soul toned 

by the sights, sounds, and exercise into a state of harmony 

with all natui'e, then the angler realizes that the precious gift 

he enjoys is 

" One of the spirits un withdrawn, 
That, erst the fall, were charged to minister 
To the earth's gladness, and continually, 
Out of their ample and unfailing horns, 
To pre-endow the advancing tracks of men. " 



The Charms of Angling. 145 

Modern improvements in anglers' implements, and recent 
inventions in lures to captivate by trolling, have rendered 
the angler of to-day very different from the ancient dreamy 
fishing philosopher. Especially is the difference from the 
ancient angler — as portrayed by good Izaak Walton — ob- 
servable in the United States of America, where an angler is 
expected to scull a boat with alacrity and pull an oar grace- 
fully, to sail a boat and man a pair of trolling-lines, to brave 
the ocean's dashing surf and spray, and, clad in sailor's garb 
of water-proof material, stand on the rocks of the shore and 
cast menhaden bait for striped bass, and play large fish from 
a stand where the dashing waves threaten continually to 
wash him off. 

The art of angling has become so rich in variety of imple- 
ments, so varied in scenes, so replete with all the elements 
for exercise — as well for the student as for the man of action 
— as to render it a recreation entirely satisfactory to its dis- 
ciples, who believe that 

"All pleasures but the angler's bring 
I' th' tail repentance like a sting." 

Men of cultivation and natural gentleness, of disposition 
have frequently been known to indulge in the chase, and fol- 
low a well-trained dog with pleasure, though they are often 
known to forego these for angling ; but there was never a 
true angler known to exchange his gentle wand, his quiet 
rambles among the most charming haunts of nature, for any 
other means of recreation. 

" Bear lightly on their foreheads, Time! 
Strew roses on their way ; 
The young in heart, however old, 
That prize the present day. 

" I love to see a man forget 

His blood is growing cold, 
And leap, or swim, or gather flowers, 

Oblivious of his gold, 
And mix with children in their sport, 

Nor think that he is old. 

K 



146 Fishing in American Waters. 

" I love to see the man of care 

Take pleasure in a toy ; 
I love to see him row or ride, 

And tread the grass with joy, 
Or throw the circling salmon fly 

As lusty as a boy. 

"The road of life is hard enough, 

Bestrewn with slag and thorn ; 
I would not mock the simplest joy 

That made it less forlorn, 
But fill its evening path with flowers 

As fresh as those of morn." 

SECTION SECOND. 

THE BROOK TROUT. 

Where the tangled willowy thickets lave 
Their drooping tassels within the wave, 
There lies a deep and darkened pool, 
Whose waters are crystal clear and cool. 
It is fed by many a gurgling fount, 
That trickles from upland pasture and mount, 
And when the deep shadows fall dense and dim, 
The speckled trout delight to swim. 

The illustration on the opposite page is a copy of a trout 
drawn by Walter M. Brackett, Esq., of Boston, as a contribu- 
tion to this work. Of his gifts and inspirations, it is difficult 
to decide whether he draws trout best with a fly-rod or a pen- 
cil. He is authority for either, and in painting fishes has no 
superior. 

This book — not being especially devoted to ichthyology — 
could scarcely be improved by giving the genus and family 
of each separate fish of which it treats ; but as the heading 
indicates that the brook trout belongs to the genus Sahno, I 
will add that it is still questionable with some ichthyologists 
whether the trout is not the head of the genus, and the sal- 
mon belongs to the genus Trutta, or the trout is distinct from 
the genus Sahno. Pliny confounded them, and the different 
members of the genus Sahno were never assigned their posi- 
tion by the aid of science until within the present century. 

The scales of the trout are imperceptible to the naked eye; 



A Thing op Beauty without Alloy. 



147 




The Brook Trout. — iSalnio fontinalis. 

all its fins are soft-rayed except the second dorsal, which is 
adipose ; its caudal fin, or tail, is nearly straight across the 
end, contradistinguished from the other families of the genus, 
including lake trout. Its meat is generally pinky or salmon- 
colored, and of all the shades between pink and white, the 
malloAV-colored trout is preferred for perfection oigoilt. The 
meat laminates in flakes, and, when in best condition, there is 
a curd-like leaf of creamy succulency between each flake. 
Trout taken in streams which empty into tide-waters are 
usually in best condition, because their food consists of smelt, 
spearing, shrimp, herring roe, roes of other fishes and their 
alevins, in addition to their desserts of flies to render them 
more delicate, to say nothing of ground bait driven down the 
stream by freshets, and from which our Beau Brummels of 
the estuary turn aside their beautiful noses. Streams backed 
by saline tides are not often impregnated by the debris car- 
ried down with the floods or by any foreign substance ; hence 
New Yorkers regard Long Island trout as the best, while Bos- 
tonians consider the Marshfield trout as the ne phis ultra. 
Though I accord a preference to trout which have access to 
tide-waters, those of mountain streams are better than any 
pond trout. Writers upon angling mention many families 
of the brook trout ; there are doubtless very many, but in the 
United States I know of but few. A marked peculiarity is 
observable in the trout of the Umbagog range of lakes and 



. 148 Fishing in American Waters. 

rivers, in the State of Maine, whose fins are bordered on one 
side with a ray of pure white ; but I know of none which 
are not definable as Salmo fontinalis, differing only in quali- 
ty and unimportant superficial marks, generally caused by 
the distinctive properties of the waters which each family in- 
habits. Thus the black-mouthed trout of the swampy forest 
would soon become assimilated to the trout of the saline es- 
tuaries were they transported thither. Upon this subject 
permit me to quote from Thomas Tod Stoddart, a very high 
authority : 

" Of the food and habits of trout I have said comparative- 
ly little ; nor have I called direct attention to what may be 
termed the cross-breeds, in contradistinction to the true or 
original breed peculiar to each stream or lake. * * * * 
I may notice that the cross-breeds to which I refer are simply 
those which have their origin in the different varieties of the 
common trout brought into contact with each other at the 
breeding season, and do not implicate the questionable prod- 
uce, or mule breed, arising from any haphazard connection be- 
tween the fario and bull trout, or whitling, a connection al- 
together discountenanced by nature, and not likely to take 
place. I may also remark that, although cross varieties may 
for a season, or term of seasons, rival in number the true 
breed belonging to this or that stream, and threaten to ex- 
tinguish it altogether, yet there is no fear or likelihood of 
such a result, the peculiar nature and qualities of t lie water, 
aided by the remaining original stock, always tending to re- 
instate the breed." This is merely reasserting that the qual- 
ities of the water and feed will govern and regulate the color 
and quality of all trout of the same breed, whether fontinalis 
or fario. 

The speckled beauty known as the brook trout has been 
an exhaustless theme for pastoral poets of all ages. It has 
afforded recreation for thousands of years to most of the lov- 
ers of nature throughout the temperate zone of the northern 
hemispheres. The old and young, the learned and ignorant, 



Trout-fishing a Fine Art. 149 

the poor and rich — all classes, ages, and conditions, have en- 
joyed the sport of angling for trout. It possibly calls forth 
more tact and discipline of both mind and body to success- 
fully invent and present the lures most captivating to it than 
to any other fresh-water fish. Although the brook trout is 
probably the most numerous of all the game fishes, and sought 
for by the greatest number of contemplative philosophers, 
yet it may be angled for with the commonest tackle, and with 
a willow wand cut by the side of any stream, or it may be 
fished for with a very elaborate apparatus, and in either case 
afford genuine sport. 

The common trout is the standard sport of the enthusiastic 
angler. In many countries the trout and salmon are the only 
varieties of game fishes which interest the angler; and while 
salmon-fishing may be justly regarded as the highest branch 
of fresh-water sport, yet it has been justly said by Francis 
Francis that " a good trout-fisher will easily become an ex- 
pert at salmon-fishing ; but a very respectable practitioner 
with the salmon-rod will often have all his schooling to do 
afresh, should he descend to trout-fishing, before he can take 
rank as a master of the art." 

But it is left to the American angler to enjoy those numer- 
ous and various resources of sport unknown to the European. 
Our black bass are nearly as high game as the salmon, while 
some think the striped bass higher, not to name the other va- 
rieties of game for the rod and the troll, which shoal in myr- 
iads along our coasts, and in the estuaries of innumerable riv- 
ers debouching in salt waters. 

After enumerating the fascinations of all other fishes, the 
mind settles in pleasurable contemplation of the brook trout. 
His capture is so delicate, and yet so artistic. Even the rus- 
tic is taught refinement of address by following a trout stream 
with his ash wand. Trouting is an abiding and universal 
source of pleasure to all classes and conditions of men and 
boys — ay, and of ladies also. It must therefore be invested 
with a great variety of elements intended to create refined 



150 Fishing in American "Wateks. 

emotions of pleasure to the best minds ; and while much of 
it is due to the incomparable beauty and superior qualities of 
the fish, yet his habits and attributes command unmixed ad- 
miration. " He is an intellectual kind of creature, and has 
evidently a will of his own. He looks sagacious and intelli- 
gent — sedulously avoids thick, troubled, and muddy waters 
— prefers the clear spring stream — displays an ardent ambi- 
tion to explore streams to their source — is quick, vigorous, 
and elegant in his movements — likes to have the exclusive 
command of the stream — keeps up a rigid system of order 
and discipline in the little community of which he is a mem- 
ber — exhibits a remarkable degree of nicety and fastidious- 
ness about his food — is comparatively free from vulgar, low, 
and groveling habits — entices his ]:>ursuer into the loveliest 
scenes of Nature's domains — calls forth from man his utmost 
ingenuity and skill — and, in a word, in every stage of his ex- 
istence preserves a dignified demeanor, unattainable by any 
other living occupant of the streams. 

"While these may be styled his social and intellectual 
qualities, his physical constitution is equally entitled to our 
respectful consideration. He discloses a prepossessing and 
fascinating figure, moulded in strict conformity with most 
refined principles of symmetrical proportion, sparkles in all 
the gorgeous colors of the rainbow, and occupies a distin- 
guished position in the important science of gastronomy." 

Reasons which combine to establish so high an estimate in 
the regard of anglers are connected with the idea that the 
amber beauty is gifted Avith mind, for in every thing which 
claims human attention, mind, real or imaginary, in the object 
is necessary to attract our serious notice and to secure our 
lasting esteem. 

Once nearly every stream in the Middle, Northern, and 
Eastern States teemed with both trout and salmon. The 
salmon have been driven away, and, had not anglers inter- 
fered to save the trout, the luxury would now only be known 
from books and the stories of the oldest inhabitants. As it 



Make effective Game-laws. 151 

is, the trout streams have been so depleted and thinned of 
their most attractive beauty that restocking by artificial 
means has been found necessary as a last resort. 

Before addressing myself to the task of describing the ar- 
tistic means for capturing this beauty of the brook, it should 
be known that it is not lawful to take trout in the State of 
New York by any other means than with the angle in fly and 
bait fishings. Considering the diminished numbers in our 
best streams, and the swift-growing density of the population 
throughout the North, it is a question of importance whether 
this law should not be adopted by all the states north and 
east. The inhabitants of the United States are a peculiar 
people in some things, and in no one element is this more 
patent than in their running on the last idea, to the disregard 
of all others. This is eminently so in artificial fish-culture. 
There are many waters which require protection only to ren- 
der the increase of trout abundant; but instead of protecting 
the waters by proper legal enactments, and faithfully carry- 
ing them out, some states leave the waters to the mercy' of 
nets and spears. They appropriate sums of money for j>rop- 
agating trout, and while the fish-culturist is hatching trout 
on the middle of a stream, the mouth is being netted, and the 
spawning-grounds thinned with the spear. This is " feeding 
at the spigot and leaking at the bung." 

Game-laws should be enacted in each state establishing the 
fence or close seasons for game fish and game animals, thus 
protecting them while with young, while hatching, and until 
they have recovered and fattened sufficiently for the table. 
The legal season for taking trout in the State of New York 
is from March until October, leaving six months of the year 
wherein it is unlawful to take trout by any means. It would 
be w T ell if the Northern and Eastern States could unite upon 
a close season, as it would assist to prevent poaching. Al- 
though I have no key to fit the humor of the selfish proprie- 
tor who would begrudge the laboring man his snatch of pleas- 
ure at this universal and favorite pastime, or limit him to 



152 



Fishing in American Waters. 




A Poacher. 



hours in a day's fishing, where- 
by he might add a real zest in 
the way of luxurious variety to 
his every-day fare, yet I would 
second all efforts to thwart the 
poacher, who robs the streams 
of their life and beauty to sell, 
when these waters are be- 
queathed to the poor as well 
as to the rich as a health-giv- 
insc blessing;. 



" Bill Blossom was a nice young man, 
And drove the Bury coach ; 
But bad companions were his bane, 
And egged him on to poach. 
" Once, going to his usual haunts, 
Old Cheshire laid his plots ; 
He got entrapped by legal Berks, 

And lost his life in Notts." — Hood. 

The poacher is an unmitigated scamp wherever found. On 
Long Island he robs the streams by night with fine silken 
nets, which he conceals in a pocket or in the crown of his hat 
(if he have one), and, knowing all the by-paths of the island 
as they meander among the net-work formed of dwarf pine 
and scrub oak, he approaches a trout stream after midnight. 
There are usually two poachers in company. They set the 
net across a narrow place in the stream, and while one at- 
tends to it, the other drives in the trout. The meshes of the 
net are so small that a two-ounce trout can not escape. Before 
daylight the poachers are back at their wretched homes, and 
those who wink at the crime purchase the fish, and send them 
to the New York markets. The fish being m season, no ques- 
tions are asked. It is difficult to detect poachers on the isl- 
and, because proprietors of real estate and hotel-keepers are 
afraid to inform against these desperadoes, lest they should, 
in revenge, add arson to poaching. 

There is not within any settled portion of the United States 



Poachers Bob all Classes. 153 

another piece of territory where the trout streams are com- 
paratively so numerous and productive as they are through- 
" out Long Island. It is scarcely possible to travel a mile in 
any. direction without crossing a trout stream, whether from 
Coney Island to Southampton on the south side, or from 
Newtown to Greenport on the north side; and when taking 
into account the necessity for a kind of recreation which shall 
not be too violent for the thousands of debilitated citizens 
who are pent up in squares of brick and mortar, and engaged 
at sedentary occupations, it is impossible to estimate in dol- 
lars the value of a recreation Avhich, while it is sufficiently 
free, airy, and attractive to inflate the lungs, jog the biliary 
organs, and unbend the mind, is not so difficult to pursue as 
to prevent the most delicate in physique from enjoying it. 
The value of the Long Island trout sti'eams to New York City 
is inestimable, for each one of them is approachable by rail- 
road in a few hours. In a hygienic sense, therefore, they are 
above price. Hoav deep must therefore be the turpitude of 
the crime of that vagrant class of vagabonds who recklessly 
rob the streams of their life, beauty, and means of recreation 
to the overwoi'ked citizen who depends on angling instead 
of physic for restoring his waning health of body and decreas- 
ing vigor of mind ! 

Streams in New Jersey and Connecticut, and those west 
of the Hudson to the Delaware Rivers, and far beyond in both 
this state and Pennsylvania, contain trout, and many of them 
are well stocked. Indeed, it would be difficult to find a stream 
within a radius of a hundred miles from the city of New 
York which has not more or less trout in it. The paper-mills, 
railroads, bleaching-fields, chemicals of acids and gases, lime, 
manures, and numerous kinds of manufactories which cast 
their choking and poisonous debris and filtrations into the 
streams, have not proved sufficient to depopulate them of 
their speckled beauties ; and were it not for the poacher, who 
stops not at nets, spears, snares of singular device, killing the 
trout by liming the streams and poisoning them with coculus 



154 Fishing in American Waters. 

indicus, they would still be so numerous as to require noth- 
ing toward propagation but protection. Want of moral rec- 
titude, indolence, and greed make up the modest sum total 
of a poacher's character ; and the sooner the class is forced to 
work for the state the better, therefore our legislators will 
please take note of the true jDenalty for poaching. 

SECTION THIRD. 

FLY-FISHING FOR TROUT. 

"Thin, o'er the wave, the quivering insects skim, 
And faintly dip their pinions on its brim. 
Winter its power has not yet resigned, 
And yet, I fear, the weather is unkind. 
But there, an answer to that doubt receive — 
A gallant trout ! — behold it, and believe." 

Here we see the fly-fisher wading a brook while it rains, 
with shoulders protected by a water-proof cape, and extremi- 
ties clad in India-rubber boots, with silk rubber attached and 
extending up to the thighs, thus rendering the toggery light, 
and so impervious as to keep the shoulders and feet of the 
angler dry. The boy with rolled-up trousers represents the 
ancient angler. He quietly contemplates and fishes in a 
drenching rain, taking eels, catfish, and chubs in the pool be- 
low the beaver-dam, never dreaming of a trout, when an ap- 
parition wading the stream surprises him as the fly-fisher 
casts his line, armed with artificial flies, quite over his pole, 
and hooks a trout to his great astonishment. 

Fly-fishing is more indolent and elegant than bait-fishing. 
From the streams on the Styrian Alps, eastward over Hun- 
gary, and westward over all the vast empire of intellectual 
man, wherever the lands are divided by the ornamental tra- 
cery of trout streams, even to the mildly sublime Pacific 
Ocean, fly-fishing is regarded as an elegant accomplishment. 
To cast a fly gracefully, so that it will fall in the right place 
like a snow-flake, or light like a winged insect, requires prac- 
tice. The beginner should not attempt to cast too long a 
line. Let him first try to throw a line as long as his rod, say 



GlTAKD AGAINST A SlACK-LINE CAST. 



155 




Fly-fishing for Tkout. 



twelve feet of line ; then increase the length as he learns to 
cast it, so that it will lie straight on the water, and a trout, 
in attempting to taste, will be sure to hook himself, because 
there is no slack line. This is important ; for if the trout 
strikes at a fly on a slack line, he at once becomes disgusted 
at so lame an effort to deceive, and the slack-line fisher will 
never receive a second visit from him. But if you cast 
a straight line, and the trout misses the fly, he will come 



156 Fishing in American Waters. 

again, sometimes as many as four times, before he fastens. 
It is necessary that the line be so straight that a slight touch 
will be felt by the angler, and that a responsive jerk at the 
top of the rod will be sure to fasten the fish. But if the line 
is slack, and the trout happens to get hooked, he will be like- 
ly to disgorge before the angler has time to strike. Do not 
be in a hurry to lay out moi*e line than you can cast straight 
from the tip of your rod to your stretcher-fly. Some good 
fly-fishers prefer to cast a short line, because it is so much 
easier for them to hook their fish and play him. Especially 
is this the case when trout are plenty. On Long Island they 
are educated ; but even there do not strain your nerves and 
muscles to make a wide cast. Experience is the only teach- 
er who will confer the perfection of casting. 

So soon as the angler learns to lay out thirty feet of line 
straight, without a bend from the tip of his rod, he may count 
himself a fly-fisher ; and as he continues to practice for im- 
proving in the elegance of his casting, he will naturally ac- 
quire the habit, so that fifty or sixty feet casts will be done 
with perfect ease, grace, and precision. Over-hand and under 
casts will be his next practice, in order to succeed in wading 
a stream overhung with willows or alders, or margined with 
large trees whose wide projecting branches warn the angler 
to beware lest he cast too high. 

Many simple souls suppose angling an indolent pastime ; 
and Johnson's plagiarism from a Greek author of " a stick 
and a string, with a fool at one end and a worm at the oth- 
er," helped to fix in the minds of the ignorant the impression 
which the stolen aphorism was intended to convey. Such 
vulgar witticisms may please the splenetic; they only dis- 
gust liberal-minded men. 

A word more about the costume of our model angler. The 
color of the dress should either be green, to blend with the 
foliage, or gray, to harmonize with the shade of the rocks. 
Wading boots, with rubbered silk extensions, are the lightest 
and best, except, perhaps, the Scotch wading stockings, of 



Trouting on Long Island. 157 

quite recent invention, and imported by our principal fishing- 
tackle houses. A cape of water-proof silk may be carried in 
the pocket, and put on as a protection to the shoulders in 
case of a shower, as it is not too warm and does not inrpede 
casting. 

Trouting on Long Island is the most artistic angling that 
I have ever seen pi'acticed, either in Europe or America. The 
trout there appear to have learned to detect many of the an- 
gler's artifices. Fly-fishing is there practiced near the estu- 
aries of streams, where they are influenced by the tides, so 
that in flood tide the fisher begins below and casts along as 
the tide makes, as far up the stream as the trout feed ; and 
when the tide turns, the angler fishes along down with the 
tide and the feeding fish. There being little protection to 
veil the angler from the tenants of the stream, it is necessary 
that he keep far back from the bank, which necessitates long 
casts, and frequently the first intimation which the angler 
receives of a bite is the gushing and slapping rise of the fish, 
and the tremulously nervous resistance at the end of his line; 
then approaches the play and the contest, when light — but 
finely-constructed — tackle tells. Deftly and gingei'ly are the 
words, for Long Island trout are not to be trifled with. The 
rod should be permitted to do its duty, and the angler be 
neither impatient nor excited. Anglers who have never vis- 
ited Long Island are comparatively innocent of the real zest 
of trouting ; for, without being annoyed with stinging and 
biting flies, the trout are as large and as free from rust or the 
eifects of discolored waters as are those of the estuaries on 
the coast of Maine or along the Gulf of St. Lawrence. On 
the island they run from a quarter to three pounds in weight, 
sometimes more, and are in the highest state of succulent ad- 
iposity. The climate is charming, surroundings most invit- 
ing, hotels where good cheer greets the sportsman through- 
out the year. I love Long Island, and venerate its trout 
streams. 



158 Fishing en American Waters. 

"Nature hath endless aspects : to the angler 
She doth her beauties and her glories all unfold ; 
A magic light rests upon land and sea, 
And all her brooks are silver, all her sunshine gold." 

What angler's heart does not beat more quickly at the 
joyous announcement of the opening day of the trouting 
season ? He will find, upon asking himself seriously, be he 
rich or poor, learned or ignorant, that no announcement of 
any other recreation so thrills his heart. The emotion caused 
by the school-master when he used to say "boys may go 
out," or "there will be a vacation until next Monday," is 
quadrupled and sublimated by the permission given from a 
higher sphere, as if Heaven said "boys may go out." Go 
forth from your counting-houses, your mephitic offices, your 
workshops, for it is the opening day of the trouting season ! 

"With Winter's frown let sadness cease, 

And cankering care, 
And o'er the brow sweet smiles of peace 

Wreathe garhmds fair ; 
From joyous Nature catch the smile, 
And every weary hour beguile 

From care and pain — 
Join, join with bird and flowing stream 
In shouting forth the rapturous theme, 

'Tis Spring again, 

'Tis Spring again!" 

Who can forget the angling of old at Oba. Snedicor's ? The 
late Daniel Webster used to be there on the opening day of 
the trouting season, and so did many of our truly great men. 
It was there that John Stephens was advised to sail his yacht 
in the regatta in England, which resulted in his winning the 
race. But the Snedicor Preserve is now in different hands. 
A close club of wealthy and intellectual sportsmen own it, 
and they have rendered it worthy of its name, the " South- 
side Club." 

The light, artistic character of the fly-fisher's tackle proves 
him a disciple of the fine arts, though translating their spirit 
into graceful action. 



Always Use the best Tackle. 



159 




Trouting Tackle. 

Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4. Split bamboo trout-rod and click reel. The hand-hold above the 
reel is either velvet or plain wood. This trout-rod is eminently American ; joints 
and rings of German silver, the rings gradually diminishing in size from butt to 
top. A' spliced top joint is to be preferred. 5. Wicker-basket with padlock, and 
plate for owner's name ; sliding shoulder-pad on the strap. 6. Tin bait-box, paint- 
ed, perforated lid, and waist-belt. The strap is sometimes so made as to connect 
with the basket-strap, when the box is worn or left off, at the option of the wearer. 
In case of connecting the bait-strap with the basket-strap, the basket is supported 
by the left shoulder, and the bait-strap attaches at the waist, so that the right arm 
is entirely free for casting. T. Fly-book with leaves of Bristol-board, or other stiff 
material, to which are attached short ends of elastic, with a hook to attach a loop, 
and a ring at the other end of the leaf for the hook. This plan of carrying flies 
without bending the gut was invented by Mr. Hutchinson, of Utica, New York, and 
the cards may either be attached to the book or laid in as leaves, so that the angler 
may merely take a single leaf of selected flies, and place it in his pocket-book for a 
day's fishing. S. Landing-net. Rim of hollow brass wire. Meshes large and of 
not too fine twine. Handle formed of two joints which screw together, or made so 
that the joint connected with the net will slide into the butt. The oval shape of 
rim is better than the round one. 



MODERN SPLICE FOR FLY RODS. 

A correspondent of the Field (London), January 4,1868, 
described the modern splice, and gave it his name of the 
" Robinson Splice," but since then several contributors claim 
to have used the same splice many years ; and the reason for 
giving it to my readers is that every angler, when writing 
upon it, commends it. It is generally used for splices of sal- 
mon-rods, but I can not see why it would not be equally use- 
ful for splicing the top joint of a trout-rod. The following 
is the description : " The splice is of the ordinary length, with 
a small, thin rim, or flat ring of brass at the thick end of each 



160 



Fishing in American Waters. 



splice ; the thin end of each splice fits so tightly into (under) 
the brass rim or ring at the thick end of the other one that 
it will not shift in the least degree ; a length of waxed glov- 
er's or tailor's thread, tied on at your leisure (for all is hard 
held to your hand by the brass rings), completes the splice." 




Numbers 1, 2, 3 present a side view of the splice, and 4, 5 
a surface view. Of course the ferrules or rings are fastened 
firmly on the thick ends of each splice, and splice ends are 
requisite after unjointing the rod for protecting the thin ends 
of the splice when thrusting the joints into a case to carry 
the rod after a day's fishing, or when the angler desires to 
pack his rod. That is, " corresponding pieces of spliced wood, 
with brass rings (or ferrules) attached, are made, joined to- 
gether, carried in the pocket, and when the rod is untied and 
unjointed they are detached from each other, and attached 
to the spliced parts of the rod, to save the splices from any 
accident." This is a precaution necessary for protecting all 
kinds of splices of rods. 

In returning to the general subject, the spring opens earlier 
on the south side of Long Island than in any other part of the 
state. This is owing to the island extending so far into the 
Atlantic that the Gulf Stream mellows the air by its warmth. 
Radishes, celery, lettuce, and sometimes eschalots, are not un- 
common on the 1st of March, while the martin and meadow- 
lark enliven the air, and the robin is not far behind in putting 
in an appearance to open the full court of Spring ; and as the 
angler casts from the bank or from a boat, all nature is alive. 
The island being in the direct route for the passage of wild- 
fowl, the honking of them high in air, and the gunners' in- 
tonations on the bay, give a touch of sublimity and grand- 
eur which, when mingling with the sounds of lowing herds 
and the music of birds, brings heaven and earth together, and 



Opening Day of the Teouting Season. 161 

in a condition of harmony never dreamed of by the care-worn 
racer after the rusty dollar. 

Persons who have never practiced the angler's gentle art 
can scarcely appreciate the feelings which well up in the 
soul of an expert who has studied nature, the habits of trout, 
and the devices necessary to present lures gracefully for their 
acceptance. His fly-rod is twelve and a half feet in length, 
including a telling-top of split bamboo. His reel is a narrow 
click one, upon which is wound a braided line of silk and 
hair, which tapers from the middle to each end, and is thirty 
yards in length. A nine-feet-long casting-line is looped to the 
end, and with the attractions of a cinnamon fly as a stretch- 
er, a gvay professor as the first drop, and a red ibis as the 
hand-fly, he feels sure that the trout in the first pool will leap 
for joy at his approach. As he walks over the meadows, sees 
the birds, hears all nature waking into new life, his very step 
upon the mead when the grass is beginning to shoot confers 
a sense of velvety elasticity ; and as he nears the stream, sees 
the cat-tails of the willows dip and play on the margin of the 
ripple, and the trout rising and leaping after flies so that they 
cast miniature rainbows over the stream, with cautious step 
he approaches within casting distance of the pool. He makes 
a cast, and a large trout meets his fly and fastens. For an in- 
stant the angler is transfixed ! The old sensation of rapture 
returns with the new spring, and as the circulation of his 
blood quickens, he spontaneously ejaculates, " Well, this is 
worth living for !" 




162 



Fishing in Ameeican Waters. 




CHAPTER II. 

FLY-FISHING ON MASSAPIQUA LAKE. 

Fly-fishing from boats or punts on ponds and lakes forms 
a most interesting branch of the art of angling. The tackle 
is fine, and the boat comfortable. When the pond covers not 
more than fifty acres, the oarsman rows across from side to 
side without turning the boat, but merely changing his seat 
and sculls ; thus the angler, at the bow when crossing first, is 
at the stern while returning, and the oarsman continues to 
cross and recross the water back and forth, with sufficient lee- 
way to prevent the water being twice fished over. The an- 
gler must needs be ambidexterous, for he must change hands 
every time the water is crossed. On the trout lakes border- 
ing the Adirondacks the boats are very light, and finely con- 
structed of narrow and thin cedar boards, very closely braced 



Fly-fishing feom a Boat. 163 

with small ribs ; they are clinker built, and about fourteen 
feet long and four feet wide, and are intended for one angler 
and his guide. The guide has a seat toward the bow, and 
the angler takes a seat near the stern, either to troll or fly- 
fish. Between the angler and guide is a basket of heavy 
splints and thick oaken cover, opening across the middle by 
brass hinges. On the bottom of the basket is placed a huge 
lump of ice wrapped in a woolen blanket, above which — or 
half way up the basket — is a piece of canvas, attached by 
strings to the basket, and fitting all round. The guide rows 
along the margin of the lake, and when approaching a stream 
which falls from the mountain into the lake, turns the stern 
toward it and backs the boat to within casting distance, and 
when the angler hooks a trout the guide rows out away from 
shore, where the fish is played and landed without alarming 
the other fish of the pool. The guide draws the fish at once, 
throws it into the basket on the canvas above the ice, and 
then backs the boat toward the shore for the angler to take 
another. This is a deliberate way of angling, by which the 
pools at the mouth of every brook are tendered the choice 
of a cast of flies, and yield their tithe as pay for their cruel 
curiosity. 

Lake Massapiqua, at South Oyster Bay, on Long Island, is 
probably the best trout preserve in the United States. It is 
owned by William Floyd Jones, Esq., who is one of the finest 
samples of an American gentleman. The preserve covers 
eighty acres, and is fed by a spring-brook which is seven 
miles m length, and all of it on Mr. Jones's estate. This gen- 
tleman maintains the preserve for his exclusive use and that 
of his invited guests, who are the ardent disciples of the angle 
and promoters of field-sports. Not only for his fish-preserve 
and his system of fish -culture is Mr. Jones pre-eminent, 
but as a farmer and horticulturist, a sportsman of first-class 
in all its ennobling features, from the winter joy of following 
the hounds to the refined and contemplative amusement of 
casting; the fly, he is worthy of emulation by all who would 



164 Fishing in American Waters. 

so dispose of the bounties with which Providence has favored 
them as that they shall confer blessings on all classes. 

There are several reasons in favor of fly-fishing from a boat 
over that of wading a stream, or catching casts from streams 
bordered with foliage. It is out on the water, away from 
shore, and free from the danger of getting flies fast on the 
limbs of trees while casting or playing a fish. There is room 
to play your fish. Your shore views are less restricted. Two 
anglers, in such case, form the best company possible. The 
business of the world may be canvassed while excellent sport 
is enjoyed amid the gushing music and harmony of nature. 




SECTION SECOND. 

HOW TO PISH A STREAM. 

" Where the robin carols loudly — 

Gayly and untroubled sings, 
And the lark is poised most proudly 

On his strong, untiring wings, 
There may I be found each morning. 

With my rod and reel complete, 
Not a speckled beauty scorning 

In the pearly streams I meet. 

" Oft I pause to hear the thrushes 
Trilling out their morning song 
In those wild and rapturous gushes 

Which to melody belong. " 
Then mingled is with song of bird, 
The monotone of barn-yard herd ; 
Anon, a flock of geese appears, 
Honking to calm each other's fears ; 
And as I angle the streams along, 
All the world seems made of song. 



Don't see it w that Light. 



165 




hits we deftly cast the artifi- 
cial lure on the margin of the 
streams, or on the bosom of 
lake or pond, whipping, whip- 
ping, whipping all the day, and 
playing trout till twilight. 

Questions in relation to fish- 
ing up or down a stream 
should be decided by the con- 
dition of the stream and its 
borders. While casting from 
the shore, it makes very lit- 
Ae difference which way the 
stream is fished; but in wad- 
ing, it is best to fish up stream, because it does not roil the 
water, and there is not so great liability to alarm the fish. 
In making a cast, it is always best to draw the flies across 
the current, for then the drop-flies will play clear of the cast- 
ing-line. This is the opinion of most good fly-fishers. First, 
cast up stream along the shore, and if the stream be not too 
wide, cast to the farther shore, drawing your flies across the 
stream, but not too fast, lest the trout become suspicious. In 
striking, you can not be too quick when fishing up a stream. 
Cast first near shore ; then a yard or two farther off; next, 
across the stream. If you get not a rise, take a step or two 
up the stream and repeat. Continue doing so until a doubt 
arises as to whether the trout admire your cast ; then replace 
one fly by another of different color from any on your cast. 
If that does not take after presenting it several times, take it 
off and try another extreme in color. Keep changing until 
you hit the fancy of the trout. When you have found the 
fly that the trout admire, change your other flies (if you fish 
with three) to those of colors in slight relief to the taking 
one ; that is, put on one a trifle darker and the other a little 
lighter in shade. Anglers are not so high a remove above 
the rest of mankind as not to be susceptible to a slight influ- 



166 Fishing in American Waters. 

ence from the baser sentiments of humanity ; but I have actu- 
ally seen a man so self-willed as to fish all day without a rise, 
" because," as he said, " he was determined to bring the trout 
to his terms." 

All kinds of angling call for the exercise of patience ; but 
fly-fishing requires the gift of genius. Do not fish with too 
long a cast. In fishing a creek up stream, thirty to forty-five 
feet are quite sufficient. In striking, let it be with sufficient 
force to fasten the hook in his jaw; but play your fish most 
gingerly and even tenderly, but not so as to give him slack 
line, or he will disgorge the hook. One of the principal 
causes of losing large fish is the being in too great a hurry 
to land them. If the hook is well fastened, the more deli- 
cately your fish is played the better; for snubbing a fish 
hard at all points wears an orifice in its jaw from which the 
hook falls by the mere turning of the fish. It is true that the 
trout has a good mouth to hold a hook, but the hook must 
first be well fastened to hold, and then the orifice made in 
hooking should not be worn larger in playing, if possible to 
avoid it. 

SECTION THIRD. 

KNOTS, LOOPS, AND DROPS. 

While anglers should let every trade live, and buy their 
tackle in preference to making it, yet with the make of cer- 
tain parts of tackle every amateur should be familiar. Of 
course he should know how to tie on a hook, and how to make 
a loop whose equal bearings would prevent it from chafing 
or breaking at the loop-knot. 

No, 1. Bending on, or tying on a hook. The hook should be 
tied on stained silk-woi'm gut, round, clear, and strong ; for 
in playing a fish the tackle generally parts near the hook. 
Use scarlet silk, well waxed with a drab wax made from 
tar, like shoemaker's wax, only light-colored. From about 
half an inch below the end of the shank, make half a dozen 
turns with the silk to the end of the shank, and place an 



Soak Gut before Tying. 



167 




end of soaked gut on the shank, and begin to wind it on at 
the end of the shank, winding close, tight, and neat, until 
you have wound down to near the end of the gut, or nearly 
half the length of the shank, when hold the end of your silk 
there and form a loop of the remainder, and cast it three or 
four times over the shank as represented ; then draw up the 
loop by the end of the silk thread, which will leave the end 
fastened under those three or four loops cast over the bend 
of the hook, thus forming a good finish, so that you may 
cut the end of the silk thread close to the tie without dan- 
cer of its drawing. 



168 Fishing in American Waters. 

No. 2. Snell loop. Soak the gut, and tie the loop as repre- 
sented. It is the very best tie for a loop, and I have en- 
deavored so to represent it as to enable an amateur to im- 
itate it. 

No. 3. A helm-knot, or tiller hitch, useful in sailing a boat or 
yacht, because the hitch — though secure — is loosened in- 
stantly by a jerk at the end. 

No. 4. The common knot for forming a loop at the end of a 
silk-worm gut or line. 

No. 5, 5. Two half hitches, forming a slide-knot in a casting- 
line, to slide for holding a drop, and for changing drops at 
will. Some anglers cast the end twice round instead of 
once, as shown. The drop hangs well from it, being at a 
right angle from the casting-line ; but with only one hitch 
of each end, as represented, the gut is apt to slip and part 
the casting - line, especially if the drops are frequently 
changed, because, when the knots become drawn very tight, 
they are hard to slide, and sliding them to change drops 
weakens them : but I have taken many hundreds of trout 
on drops so arranged. 

No. 6. The first drop, of the correct length. It is the red ibis 
fly, all formed of the ibis feather but the red silk body, 
wound with very small gold or silver cord. This is one 
of the most attractive lures for trout, but it is not so good 
as the coachman, or several of the professors, for large fish. 
The tail and hackle at the neck are brown. 

No. 7. A knot recommended by many accomplished anglers 
for connecting lengths of gut to form a casting-line. Some 
bend the end twice round instead of once, as shown. If 
only once, the ends should be lashed with waxed silk. 

No. 8. Drop, fastened by a half hitch round the casting-line 
and the end of the gut near the knot. After tying the knot 
of the casting-line, draw it tight, and cut off one end close, 
leaving the upper end half an inch long. Lash this end to 
the line, and cover it with varnish, and loop the end of the 
drop over it. By this plan the drop will not chafe or 



Turn off Ends with Tarnish ok Shellac. 169 

weaken the casting-line. This fastening is recommended 
by Mr. Francis, and shellac might form a good covering for 
the lashed end. 

No. 9. Green trophy-fly. Peacock's wing body and Guinea- 
fowl wings. 

No. 10. Square tie in a casting-line. After drawing it close, 
cut the ends to half an inch long, and lash them with fine 
silk, and varnish them. 

No. 11. The gut of the drop, soaked, and a knot tied in the 
end ; it is attached to the casting-line close to the knot by 
a half hitch. This is a very secure method and clean rig 
for forming a casting-line and fastening a drop, especially 
when fishing for large trout of from two to five pounds' 
weight ; but for fish under two pounds I prefer the rig of 
line and drop 5 and 6. 

No. 1 2. Alder-fly — phryganea — body of peacock's herl whip- 
ped with red silk ; wings of gray cock's hackle. 

No. 13. Attaching the casting-line to the reel-line. This loop 
is quite secure, scarcely any chafing, is small and neat, yet 
it may be easily loosened without cutting the knot from 
the end of the casting-line. This is recommended when 
the reel-line has a loop at the end ; but I prefer a loop in 
the end of the casting-line, as represented. The fastening 
is the same in either case, whether the loop forms the end 
of the casting-line or the reel-line. Sometimes a loo]} is 
made in each ; but if in one only, I prefer it in the casting- 
line, as I consider it the neatest finish. 

No. 14. The casting-line, rigged with stretcher and two drop 
flies. The object is to show the student how they should 
be rigged, so that all may fall at the same time on the wa- 
ter, calculating the natural angle of the casting-line. 

No. 15, 16, 17. No. 15 is called the stretcher-fly; 16, the first 
drop ; 1 7, the second drop, or hand-fly, being the drop near- 
est to the angler's hand. The drop for the hand-fly should 
be four inches long, while the first drop should be from 
two and a half to three inches in length. The knots in the 



170 Fishing est American Waters. 

casting-line show where the lengths of gut are tied — thus, 
from the stretcher-fly to the first drop are four lengths of 
gut, and three or four lengths from the first drop to the 
hand-fly. These distances will be changed to suit taste 
and the distance of cast. For long casts, the drops should 
be a yard apart. 
No. 18. A tie for uniting lengths of gut, so that they will 
break at any other part as easily as at the tie. Tie a knot 
in the end of each length of gut ; lap them an inch, and 
wind them closely between the knots with white waxed 
silk. This is the best tie for a salmon leader or a trout 
casting-line. Casting-lines should be made of stained gut, 
the gut selected so as to taper regularly from the reel-line 
to the stretcher-fly ; and the drops shoiild be of fine, clear, 
round gut, stained to the shade of the casting-line. It is 
an indication of very bad taste in a fishing-tackle maker to 
offer finely-tapered and stained casting-lines and flies tied 
to coarse gut, and not dyed or shaded to the tint of the 
casting-line. All should be in harmonious keeping, from 
the reel-line to the casting-line and drops. For casting 
from a boat or from the clear margin of a stream, the cast- 
ing-line should be nine feet in length, or even a foot or two 
more, only have a care not to make it so long that, with the 
bend of a twelve-foot rod, you can not reel up sufficiently 
close to bring your fish within reach of your landing-net. 
For rough fishing on a stream of bramble margins a cast- 
ing-line of from six to seven feet in length, and one drop 
besides the stretcher, may be sufficient. Many anglers dis- 
pense with drops, and fish with one fly only on some streams 
in the interior of Pennsylvania, Maine, New Hampshire, and 
throughout the region in New York known as the Adiron- 
dack^, which is about forty miles square, and one of the 
greatest fish and game regions in America. 

HOW TO STAIN SILK-WORM GUT. 

Gut may be stained by leaving it in a strong decoction of 



To STAIN SlLK-WOKM GuT. 171 . 

cold coffee or tea twelve hours. Tinging the gut thus does 
not weaken it or render it less pliable. Logwood and alum 
form a decoction very commonly in use for staining gut. 
Lemon-juice and indigo produce a delicate tinge. The outer 
skins of onions, when steeped, produce a dye which stains a 
yellow or leather-color without injuring the gut. 

Stoddart states that walnut leaves produce a brown dye, 
which is a good general tinge for all waters ; and such mate- 
rials as stain the gut a neutral tinge, or bluish, are best for 
clear waters. Steep two handsful of walnut leaves in a 
quart of water, and when cool, soak the gut in the water two 
or three hours. The rind of the American black walnut forms 
as good a dye for general use as can be obtained. A bluish 
dye is obtained by boiling a handful of the dust or shavings 
of logwood a quarter of an hour in a quart of water, adding 
a lump of alum half the size of an almond. Dip the gut in 
the decoction while it is yet very warm, and allow it to re- 
main half an hour, or until the shade required is obtained. 
Gut should be entirely dried after staining it, and then it 
should be thoroughly washed in tepid water, when, after dry- 
ing it perfectly, it should be rolled in chamois skin, or stretch- 
ed on a board with the ends fastened to keep it straight. An 
excellent plan for keeping the gut straight upon which flies 
are tied is Hutchinson's, before mentioned. The distances 
between the loops or rings and the hooks should be so grad- 
uated as to accommodate different lengths of gut, as illustra- 
ted on the page of trouting-tackle, thus enabling the fly-fisher 
to change his flies or replace one quickly. This plan is ex- 
cellent for drops, but stretchers would require too long a fly- 
book for convenience. On going a-trouting, I usually put up 
a couple of casts, such as I may think will suit the waters 
which I contemplate fishing. For most waters I rig a stretch- 
er and two drops; and I seldom make a mistake in the selec- 
tion of flies. In the early spring I employ the cinnamon as 
the stretcher for one cast, a red ibis as a stretcher for anoth- 
er, and a mallard wing, with claret body, for the third. The 



• 172 Fishing in American "Waters. 

first drop above the cinnamon is an ibis, and the first drop 
above the ibis is a cinnamon, and the first drop above the 
mallard wing is a cinnamon. The hand-flies are the bine dun 
or the cow-dung. The blue professor is also an excellent fly 
early in the season, as is also the gray ; the yellow is better 
in May. 

My advice to the angler is to purchase his flies of the best 
fly-tyers in New York and Boston, where competition has pro- 
duced the necessity for employing first-rate materials in all 
the departments of fishing-tackle, whether of gut, flies, hooks, 
lines, reels, rods, and the coarser paraphernalia of the angler. 

Trout Reels. — The click reel is incomparably the best, 
though it is not so good to dry a line on as is the Billinghast 
reel, which is formed of brass or German silver wire, and the 
line open on all sides to the air. The click reel checks the 
line to a certain weight of resistance, to which the angler 
soon becomes accustomed, and in giving the fish the butt, he 
does it with confidence, because he has ascertained from ex- 
perience how great a check he puts upon the fish, and the pre- 
cise strain caused to his casting-line, which he has regulated 
accordingly. This is not the case with a reel whose tension 
of drag may be changed several times during one day's sport. 
Bujb the best reel for my use is a click reel, with a large per- 
forated barrel or cylinder to reel the line on, and it should 
also be perforated at the ends over the cylinder, for drying 
the line. The advantage of a large cylinder to reel the line 
on when the reel does not multiply is important, because it 
shortens the time of reeling. Besides, with a large cylinder, 
thirty yards is a sufficient length of line. I once killed a five- 
and-a-half-pound trout in a very rapid stream with a nine- 
ounce rod and only thirty yards of line. It took me two 
hours and twelve minutes to kill the fish, timed by Dr. Be- 
thune, of Boston. 

A click multiplier is better for angling with the worm or 
minnow, but many bait anglers of the country prefer a small 
multiplier without a click or drag. Bell-metal is supposed 



Magic in a good Fly-rod. 173 

to be better than German silver or brass, but alumine, or alu- 
minum, is better than either. 

Fly Rods. — Rods made from split bamboo are unquestion- 
ably the best in use ; but a Robert Welch rod, of ash for the 
butt and second joint, lance wood for the third, and sjDlit bam- 
boo for the fourth or top joint, is the best rod that I have 
ever owned for general fly-fishing. The split bamboo rod is 
much lighter, and full as desirable. A fly rod should not be 
under twelve feet in length, and I had rather have it six 
inches over, or so made with duplicate top and third joints 
as to make it either twelve or twelve feet six, though. my 
longest fly rod is only twelve feet and two inches long. I 
prefer a single action rod to the one of double action or a 
"kick in the handle," though the latter may send a fly far- 
ther, and deliver it more gracefully, but it lacks the snap of 
the single action to strike. Fly -rods from split bamboo 
should weigh from seven to ten ounces when mounted ; and 
if from ash, lancewood, and split bamboo, if strictly for sin- 
gle hand, their weights should range from nine to fifteen 
ounces ; and if the latter weight, they should be about twelve 
and a half feet long. Neither rod should be too withy, but 
have snap or elasticity enough in the top to hook a fish with- 
out yielding enough to permit the sinner to disgorge. One 
of the pleasures of fly-fishing is to use a rod which will re- 
sponsively hook a trout without an effort of the angler. The 
sport consists in delivering a fly neatly on a straight line — 
seeing the trout rise gushingly to the surface and accept the 
lure — and playing a trout gracefully. The charm consists in 
the manner of taking the trout, and the surroundings of a 
pleasing landscape — the music of birds, the spring-time of 
general rejuvenation, and the running harmony of intellectu- 
al conversation. There is society in trouting, but it does not 
prevent the soul from basking in all the life and beauty of 
sound and gayety around. 

Landing Nets. — If for landing in a boat or on shore, a two- 
jointed handle is the best. If for wading, a short handle, at- 



174 Fishing in American Waters. 

tached to an elastic cord and suspended from the shoulder, 
or a double-jointer, in which the second one slides into the 
first, and is attached by a loop to a button on the breast, is 
the least cumbersome. I have found the hollow wire rims 
the best, and brass is the best metal for them. The hollow 
rim is light, and it does not rust. As to the round and oval 
shapes, they are matters of caprice, and as to the wicker 
frames of wood, they are no lighter than hollow brass wire, 
while they offer fourfold resistance to the water. The rim 
should be large, the meshes large, the twine not too fine, and 
the net itself large. A landing-net, large, strong, and light, 
is one of the angler's sources of delight. 

Trout Basket. — Let it be plaited or woven from the thin 
outer grain of the willow or osier, very light and large ; to 
contain ten, fifteen, and twenty pounds offish are the sizes. 
They should be stained inside and painted outside, or by 
painting the inside also they are more easily cleaned. Green 
is the color preferred. The shape not very deep, with a hole 
in the lid, brass hinges, a staple extending up through the lid, 
fastened with a padlock. The strap should be of worsted 
webbing instead of russet leather, or if of russet leather there 
should be a pad attached, with straps to slide on the shoul- 
der-strap to the right place. The New York fishing-tackle 
dealers have introduced a new gear, by which the weight 
rests on both shoulders, and the basket is held more securely, 
and is less cumbersome in forest-fishing. The angler's coat 
should be made with a strap and button on the shoulder, un- 
der which to hold the strap of the trout-basket ; and there 
should be another strap on the coat at the left side, to pre- 
vent the basket -strap from moving, and the basket from 
swinging about while climbing over logs and fences. But 
the great desideratum consists in getting a light and small 
basket, which will contain a great many large trout of your 
own taking. 

Bait Box. — Of course bait-boxes and fly-books are articles 
to purchase at the fishing-tackle stores ; and while there are 



Finishing up the Trouting Rig. 175 

numerous theories about fly-books, thei'e can be but few about 
bait-boxes. I will therefore state, beware of those three- 
story complications. Procure a box as simple as possible in 
construction, made to slide on and be supported by the waist- 
belt which holds up the wading water-proofs, or the common 
leather waist-belt. It should consist of two compartments, 
one for worm and the other for minnow, or for grub-worms 
and grasshoppers. 

Carrying Casts of Flies. — Instead of winding a casting- 
line round the hat, a double band is made to fit the hat and 
buckle round over the hat-band, and the casting-line or snell- 
ed flies are attached to it and folded in, so as not to expose 
them, or render them liable to get loose and dangle about, to 
the danger of the face and eyes. The Calcutta or Gibraltar 
sporting-hat, illustrated on the plate with the salmon-rod, is 
excellently adapted for carrying snelled flies or casts. A 
" snelled fly" is a length of silk-worm gut, with a fly at one 
end and a loop at the other. 

Straightening Casting-lines. — Hitch the line at one end 
either by the hook or a loop, and rub the line with brown 
paper between your thumb and finger, and it will take the 
turns out of it; or, rub it between India-rubber; but both 
these methods tend to chafe the gut more or less, and neither 
should be resorted to if you can have time to soak the gut in 
tepid water half an hour. I am in the habit of soaking my 
casting-line over night in cold water if I intend to fish early 
the next morning ; and I am accustomed also to selecting the 
flies which I think may be necessary, and on the rim of a glass 
nearly filled with water I hang the hooks, letting the gut fall 
in the glass and soak all night. I do not approve of straight- 
ening gut by friction when soaking it is possible. 

Thus, with a finely-balanced and finished fly-rod, a click 
reel attached to the rod below the hand, a silk and hair 
braided line, protected from the effect of water by being 
oiled, varnished, or saturated with some oleaginous substance, 
braided like a whip-lash to taper each way from the middle, 



176 ' Fishing in American Waters. 

a stained gut casting-line tapering from the reel-line to the 
stretcher, a well-selected cast of flies, with drops artistically 
fastened to the casting-line, and of proper length, a good 
landing-net and light basket, and I am ready for the fray and 
to angle all day ; for I never yet experienced a day long 
enough while fishing. 

Oh ! the varied and mixed emotions of the fly-fisher. How 
often he is tantalized by false rises, which suddenly inflate 
him with hope, to collapse as soon by disappointment. Some- 
times he misses a well-intended rise of so bold an effort as to 
render the fish too much alarmed by the sights and sense of 
the upper air to trust a repetition. Anon he hooks a fine 
trout, and in playing it the hook parts from the jaw of the 
fish, leaving to conjecture whether it was really a disgorge 
or a too tender hold. Thus he continues whipping the water, 
exercised by various emotions, when a large feeding trout 
springs above the water, revealing all his beauties of color 
and proportions, and, taking the fly, he darts away with the 
power and celerity which prove that he is going to try the 
strength of the tackle. What interesting moments to the 
angler ! The numerous runs of the fish, his wiles and strat- 
egy to escape, are all tried in vain, and he is finally helped 
out of the wet by means of the landing-net. 

The man or boy who has never taken a trout has not 
really seen one — with angler's eyes. To the angler, a large, 
healthy trout in full season, just taken, when fish are scarce 
and bite shy, is the prettiest object in the whole world of 
beauty. 

NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL TROUT FLIES. 

Letter A, the artificial, and B, the natural dun-cut fly (jphry- 
ganea), is a good lure for the month of May. Body of 
brown bear's hair, mixed with blue and yellow worsted, 
whipped with green and yellow ; brown feather wings, and 
squirrel's-tail hair for antennse. 

Letter C, the artificial, and D, the natural of the green-tail fly 



Deceptions of Art. 

C B 



H\ 




(phryganea). This is regarded as a successful fly for April ; 
body dubbed with fur from hare's ear, whipped with gray 
or green silk, hackle from gray cock, and wings from the 
prolace of a partridge wing. 

Letter E, the natural, and F, the artificial of the prime dun, a 
fly for March {ephemera), and for which month the great 
dun, dark brown, little red-brown, and the small dark brown 
are also favorites. They are composed of different shades 
of mohair, dun and speckled wings, and gray and light 
brown hackles. 

Letter I, the artificial, and J, the natural dun drake, or March 
brown, or Moorish brown (ephemera). Body of hare's-ear 
fur and yellow worsted, or black wool whipped with red 
silk ; mottled wings, and hackle from the gray cock. Pro- 
fessor Eennie, M. Carroll, and hosts of other authorities, 
consider this the best March fly. 

M 



178 'Fishing in American Watees. 

Letter G, the natural, and H, the artificial cow-dung fly. The 
body of lemon-yellow mohair and a yellow feather, whip- 
ped with yellow silk, and the wings of grayish-blue feather 
of a hen, land-rail, or mallard. This is one of the taking 
flies for March and April, and the best that I ever saw were 
tied by Pritchard Bros. 
Letter K, the artificial, and L, the natural blue dun or violet 
fly. Body of light worsted violet, mixed with gray down ; 
the wings from the pale feathers of a starling's wing, whip- 
ped with pale yellow silk. The black gnat, early and late 
bright browns or cinnamons, palm fly, and whirling dun, 
with the blue dun, dun drake, with palmers, hackles, and 
the stone fly, are intended for both March and April. 
Letter M, the natural, and N, the artificial hawthorn fly. 
Body of black ostrich herl or black seal's fur, mixed with 
buff mohair ; wings of horn shavings, or of the palest 
snipe's feather or mallard's wing. 
Letter O, the. natural, and P, the artificial oak fly. This is a 
May insect, famous under the names of oak fly, camlet fly, 
down-hill fly, and canon fly. The body is dubbed with 
dark brown shining camlet, whipped with very fine green 
silk, or is made with a bittern's feather, and the wings from 
the double gray feather of a mallard or of a woodcock. 
Letter Q, the natural, and R, the artificial green drake or 
green May-fly, the common fresh-water fly for May. The 
body is dubbed with hog's down or light bear's hair, mix- 
ed with yellow mohair, whipped with pale floss silk, and a 
small strip of peacock's herl for the head ; the wings from 
the rayed feathers of the mallard, dyed yellow ; the hackle 
from the bittern's neck, and the tail from the long hairs of 
the sable or ferret. 

The gray drake is similar in form, but different in colors, 
having the body dubbed with whitish hog's down, mixed 
with black spaniel's fur or white ostrich herl, whipped with 
black silk ; the wings dark gray mallard ; black hackle, with 
silver twist : whisks of tail from a black cat's whiskers. 



Fine Tackle always Alluring. 179 

Comments. — From the perusal of previous pages addressed 
to the questions of " senses in fishes," the reader will not be 
surprised at the difference between natural and artificial flies. 
Fishes in general, and indeed all fishes, are generally more 
readily attracted by the size, color, and action of a lure than 
by its form. And as a floating lure is better than a sinking- 
one, the fly-tyers prefer such floating hairs as those from 
hog's ears, seals, bears, the South American fox, otter, etc., 
while for feathers they prefer those of the mallards, the bar- 
red feathers of the wood-duck, and numerous other oil-quilled 
feathers, including all such as do not lose their lustre by the 
action of water, and, like the topknot of the golden-pheas- 
ant, will shine as brilliantly in the water as above it. It is 
doubtless true that more care in selecting floating materials, 
and the adoption of a greater number of oleaginous sub- 
stances in mounting flies, would be an improvement upon the 
almost perfect state to which the art of fly-tying has already 
attained. I prefer a body of silk to one of mohair for the 
cinnamon fly, because silk retains more lustre when wet than 
does common wool, or even mohair ; and so with the blue pro- 
fessor, another attractive fly for large trout, the body of 
which should be wound with lustrous blue silk. The near- 
est copies of nature that I ever saw in flies are those of gut- 
ta-percha, recently imported by Andrew Clerk & Co., who 
keep the largest assortment of hooks, duffings, feathers, silk- 
worm gut, and all the materials requisite for the angler to 
be prepared with on a lengthy fishing tour, of any house in 
America, if not in the world. 

Many fly-fishers claim that a different fly is required for 
every month during the trouting season ; but that has not 
been my experience Math trout, nor of the best anglers with 
whom I have conversed on the subject. I refer not to fledged 
lures for salmon, as that royal fish is as capricious about flies, 
and changes its mind as frequently as did the Empress Jose- 
phine about bonnets. 

Barker, an authority on angling, says : 



180 Fishing in American Waters. 

"A brother of the angle must always be sped 
With three black palmers, and also three red ; 
And all made with hackles. In a cloudy day 
Or in windy weather, angle you may." 

He then recommends the May-fly, and states that the haw- 
thorn fly should be small, while the oak fly with brown wings 
and the grasshopper should be carefully imitated, concluding 
with the following advice : 

" Once more, my good brother, I'll speak in thy ear : 
Hog's, red cow's, and bear's wool to float best appear ; 
And so doth your fur, if it rightly fall ; 
But always remember, make two, and make all." 




Wise Tkout below the Dam. 



181 




' CHAPTER HI. 

MIDDLE DAM CAMP. 

This camp is situated at the head of Rapid River, and at 
the foot of Mollychunkemunk Lake, being the next lake east 
of the Umbagog, in a chain of a dozen lakes, in the State of 
Maine, which head near the mountains separating that state 
from Canada. Rapid River falls into Umbagog Lake, and as 
this is a famous trouting region, I give a view of the camp, 
where the angler luxuriates on brook trout and spruce par- 
tridges, and rests from his day's labor on a spring-bed. Trout 
of nine pounds' weight each have been taken there, though I 
never took one which scaled much over six pounds. It was 
here that I met a new experience in the character of trout, 
and think it worth relating for the benefit of anglers. 

While I believe that trout are not generally so discrimin- 
ating in the selection of artificial flies as to evince acuteness 
of vision, yet I have experienced that at certain waters, when 
the streams are low and clear, a copy of the living fly is more 



182 Fishing in American Waters. 

or less necessary to success. This is the case at the pool and 
rapids below the middle dam at the head of Rapid River, and 
half a mile below Middle Dam Camp, where a large shoal of 
— apparently educated — trout keep leaping and tumbling so 
that from fifty to a hundred speckled beauties of from two to 
five pounds' weight are always in sight. But it used to be 
said that they would not take an artificial fly ; so, school-boy 
like, the guests at the camp sent every angler, on his arrival, 
to " try below the dam," as a sell. It pleased them to see a 
fresh man's face glow at the first sight of those sportive beau- 
ties, which acted as if half in coquetry and half in defiance 
of anglers. I felt thankful when witnessing the self-denying 
hospitality which prompted several anglers, who were entire 
strangers to me, to cease angling opposite the camp for the 
sole purpose of showing me a pool full of very anxious trout. 
They left after I had tried in vain to coax a favorable notice 
at one cast of flies. I changed my cast several times, and 
then rested the pool to allow them to change their minds or 
whet their appetites, until I devoted in that way about two 
days, to the amusement of the anglers at the camp, and final- 
ly began to think that the stories I had heard about the sa- 
gacity of those trout were true. On my return to camp aft- 
er each trial below the dam, I saw that my brethren of the 
angle were interested in my efforts by their furtive glances 
and sly winks at each other as they anxiously inquired what 
sport I had enjoyed. But all their jokes fell short, for my 
mind was with the sparkling beauties below the dam. After 
having exhausted my fly-books of their attractive lures, I 
concluded to repair to the dam and study the trout. There 
they were, apparently as jolly as ever, rolling, tumbling, and 
leaping about the surface of the clear, curling pool. I had 
not sat long on the dam, and peered into the sparkling eddies 
below, before I saw a trout rise gracefully and swallow an 
ash-colored midge which had floated down from the dam. 
On looking around me, I saw a cloud of drab ephemera, rath- 
er larger than musquitoes, swarming over the dry timber 



Fish Philosophy evolved. 183 

dam, and ever and anon, as one fell on the water, a trout 
rose very gracefully and swallowed it, turning quickly down, 
and causing a whirl made by his caudal train, which had so 
excited me when I first looked upon the pool. With assidu- 
ity I commenced examining my flies in search of an ash 
midge. I soon found a pair, and, placing one on as my stretch- 
er, the first cast I made with it fastened a three-pound trout, 
played and landed it. The next cast I fastened another, but 
so slightly that the hook parted from his mouth. Two or 
three more casts assured me that the shoal " smelt a rat ;" 
and as minks, muskrats, and flies with hooked tails are their 
terror, I adjourned to another pool, aud did not return to the 
dam until nearly night, when I took the conceit out of four 
more beauties ; but, after playing the fifth nearly half an hour, 
he made a rush for the rapids, and went over the chute, car- 
rying away my casting - line. Having captured five, and 
played two more trout that clay, I felt satisfied. I had for 
years contended that trout might be taken with artificial fly 
when in feeding humor, but I had never before found them so 
fastidious or discriminative. Since then, Mr. James Stephens, 
of Hoboken, and myself, hired a trout-pond in Connecticut, 
and though I. fished it three days, and Mr. Stephens three 
weeks, yet neither of us succeeded in capturing one with the 
fly. Neither would they take a minnow, while they rose 
freely to angle and grub worms, cast, without sinker, as a fly. 
On the last day of my visit to the pond I saw the trout rush- 
ing furiously after tadpoles ; but, as I had not time to re- 
main and try that bait, I probably lost a treat, for I have 
since heard that it is the favorite lure for trout in some parts 
of the state. Indeed, the fish-culturists of France propagate 
frogs, that the trout may feed on tadpoles. 

The angler, on making a lengthy tour for sport, can not 
have too great a number or variety of artificial flies. He ean 
procure them at the principal fishing-tackle establishments 
in New York, where competition has so sharpened invention 
and enterprise that the best flies and fly-tiers are imported, 



184 



Fishing in American Waters. 



together with the best materials, from wherever on earth 
they are to be obtained. Or he may be supplied in Boston, 
Montreal, Quebec, or at Rome, Rochester, or Mumford, New 
York. 

In addition to an extensive assortment of flies, the angler 
should carry silks, wools, mohair, duflings, and feathers of va- 
rious colors, gold and silver threads and tinsels, fine hooks, 
and selected gut, so that he may occasionally extemporize a 
cast of flies, which, though not so finely tied, may combine 
size and colors attractive for the finny epicures which show 
themselves fastidious about putting in an appearance. This 
course is pursued by many experienced anglers, whom, I may 
justly add, are great bunglers at tying a fly or properly 
mounting a hook. Half a dozen lessons from Pritchard 
Brothers, or from one of the fly-tyers for Andrew Clerk & 
Co., could scarcely fail of being useful to the student of con- 
templative philosophy. 

SECTION SECOND. 

SELECT ARTIFICIAL TROUT-FLIES. 




No. 1. Black Gnat. — Black ostrich-feather body, wings of pale starling's feather, drab 
tail and antennae. 2. Red Ibis. — Red body, wound with gold or silver cord ; brown 
hackle and tail, red ibis-feather wings. 3. Wilson's Professor. — Yellow gut body, 
mounted by M'Bride, of Mumford, N. Y. ; red ibis tail headed with gold tinsel, brown 
hackle, gray mallard wing. 4. Stone Fly. — Green drake wing and hackle, drab body 
and tail. 5. Pritchard's Stone Fly. — Composition body, drab wings, tail, and anten- 
nae. C. Cinnamon Fly. — Orange body, ash-colored wings, brown hackle and tail. 
T. Green Drake.— Silver body, tipped with gold ; short black hackle, black head, 
brown tail ; wings and shoulders of green drake feather. 



A CK00KED BUT POINTED SUBJECT. 



185 



ROUND BEND ELY-HOOKS. 

These are Adlington and Hutchinson's superfine warranted 
cast-steel hooks. They are imported in great numbers by 
Andrew Clerk & Co., and, whether straight or curbed, are the 
best fly-hook in use, and infinitely superior to the common 
Limerick hook. 



y 

n 



nnnnn n n 



00 



C\ 






FISH-HOOK PHILOSOPHY. 

Upon the subject of fish-hooks, their important qualities 
and bearings are applicable to hooks for all fishing purposes. 
The draft, or pull on a hook, is equally applicable to a hook 
for fly-fishing or for capturing the largest sharks. It is con- 
ceded by hook-makers that the forged hook is the best, 
whether it be hammered flat, square, or round. The needle- 
pointed, cast-steel hooks, of round bend, are probably best for 
mounting with flies for salmon, black bass, or trout, or bait- 
ing for striped bass, squeteague, and maskinonge ; while for 
sheepshead, kingfish, and for all fishes which have a small 
and hard mouth, the Sproat bend is preferable. Of the Kin- 
sey or Pennsylvania hook, the shape is good for small fish, 
but it gapes so much that a large fish is apt — in sulking and 
beating its nose against a rock, or rubbing it on the gravel 
bottom — to spring the hook out. If made of large wire and 
well tempered, it is good for sheepshead and kingfish, because 
it is not so Ions' from the bend to the barb as is the Limerick 



d^ y 



c 



^ 



186 Fishing in American Waters. 

of the O'Shaughnessy pattern, or the regulation hook for ex- 
portation. The Virginia hook, and the Sproat and round 
bends of Redditch, are the best that I have seen. 

The foregoing cut, representing the samples of two hooks, 
was clipped from a recent number of the Field, and as it 
embodies philosophy founded on experience, I give it, refer- 
ring to the cut, as follows : 

" Now I have this autumn devoted particular attention to 
this subject, i. e., hooks. I have been fishing with Hutchin- 
son's Limerick and Sproat bends (I may remark that I can 
not speak too highly of the latter, for its prehensile capabili- 
ties), and the following is the result. In seven consecutive 
days' fishing I hooked thirty-six fish, and of them landed 
twenty-seven. I was broken four times. Once my single 
gut, with which I always fish, was frayed by a heavy fish 
against sharp boulders, and three times the hooks were the 
traitors — two were Limericks, and one was a Sproat. Three 
out of thirty-six is too large a proportion, and it is very de- 
sirable to reduce it. Even in fishing with single gut, the 
heaviest fish, if properly handled, barring the circumstances 
of snags or boulders, seldom succeed in breaking the line. 
But what handling will save a hook ? One will go some- 
times, and most unaccountably, probably from being fixed so 
as to allow the fish to wrench, jerk, or squeeze it. The first 
step to a cure is to find the weak point. 

" The only Sproat hook which has broken with me went at 
the point a. I think it is an admirable form of hook, al- 
though I tried it first as an experiment this year, with much 
prejudice against the looks of it. It is less apt to break than 
the Limerick, both from its form, and because the pull, b, c, is 
nearly in the direction of the point, whereas in the other the 
line of pull, d, e, forms an obtuse angle at the point e. Of 
the thousand and one Limerick hooks which I have seen bro- 
ken, either against stones or in fish, by far the greater propor- 
tion have failed at the point f, where — in good hooks to a 
less, and in bad to a greater measure — the wire is reduced in 



Important Elucidations. 187 

forming the barb. Having determined the weak point, I 
think it can be merely a mechanical difficulty which prevents 
that part of the hook being made as strong as the rest, and 
anglers should insist on manufacturers overcoming it. I ob- 
tained some hooks from Messrs. Bernard, of St. James's Pas- 
sage, which Avere flat-sided — that is, they were filed to angles, 
and the section of the wire would be nearly an oblong. They 
appeared exceptionally strong, but were otherwise objection- 
able, being over-ironed and over-barbed. I think something 
might be done by flattening the wire from the beginning of 
the bend, the shank being left circular for fly-dressing facili- 
ties. A section of the wire at the bend would then be ellip- 
tical. However, ignorance as to the manufacture, unfortu- 
nately, is in the way of my suggesting any thing practical ; 
but if I succeed in drawing attention from anglers and man- 
ufacturers to this subject, my object in occupying so much 
of your space will be fulfilled. Salmoniceps. 

" [The hooks which ' Salmoniceps' describes as flat and filed 
at the sides are, we fancy, not filed, but hammered, as they 
are usually described in the trade as ' forged Limerick tapers.' 
We have previously expressed a very high opinion of the 
Sproat bend, which is undoubtedly one of the best, if not the 
best, salmon hook made. — Ed.]" 

Having a greater variety of fishes to angle for in America 
than there are of angler's fishes in Europe, it will be necessary 
to recur to this subject, for the fish-hook is the foundation of 
all fishing-tackle ; and if it gives way, all the expense of 
mounting or baiting it, with expense of other tackle and loss 
of time, besides the chagrin, amounting to mortification and 
sometimes almost desperation at losing a very large fish, go 
for worse than nothing. The centre-draft hook of the an- 
cients is quite similar to the hook a, b, c, minus the barb, and 
it is probably the best form for all large fish. 




Plate or Trout-flies. 



A Clergyman's Contribution. 189 

No. 1. Red body, wound with gold cord ; streamers red, blue legs. 2. Coachman. — 
White wings, green peacock herl body, brown legs. 3. Drab upper wings, and brown 
under ditto ; cinnamon body and legs. 4. Red body and legs, brown mallard wings. 
5. Peacock herl body, Guinea-hen wings, brown hackle. 6. Gold body, orange wings, 
sandy legs, and gray tail. 7. Silver-drab wings, yellow body, and black legs. 8. Red- 
dish-browu wings and legs, with peacock herl body. 9. Drab wings, brown body, 
legs, and tail. 10. Brown body, red legs, gray mottle wings and antennae. 11. June- 
fly. — Orange wings, brown body and hackle. 12. Red body, brown wings, gray mal- 
lard wings. 13. Brown hackle and two hooks. 14. Purple body, wings, legs, gray 
tail, and green herl at root of tail. 15. Gold body, yellow and black legs, wing's 
white and black bars. 10. Silver body, speckled wings, brown legs. 17. Black 
hackle over body of orange wound with gold, gray wings, and yellow tail. 18. Brown 
body wound with gold cord, gray wings, red and black hackle. 19. Green body, red 
tail, gray legs, and hackle round the neck. 20. Yellow Professor.— Yellowish-gray 
wings, red tail, golden body, gray antennae. 21. Gray Professor. — Brown mallard 
wings, red hackle, gray body wound with gold, yellow legs. 22. Black Gnat. — 
Black body, legs, hackle ; ash wings. 23. Blue Professor. — Body dark blue and gold, 
legs blue, and drab wings. 24. Body brown South American fox, wound with silver 
cord ; dark brown wings and legs. 

SECTION THIRD. 

BAIT-FISHING FOR TROUT. 

" Hail to the spring-time and the hills ! 
Hail to the meadows and the fog ! 
Hail to the gorges and the rills ! 
All hail the trout 'neath yonder log ! 
Have good care, 
That's his lair : 
Heigh-ho, hop, 
Flip, flap, flop. 

Hail to the shocking old straw hat, 

Second-hand trowsers, coat, and boots, 
Box of worms, lively and fat, 

All hail your hook in those old roots ! 
Careless man, 
Mad as bran, 
Neither snap, 
Nor flip, flap. 

Blessed and calm the smiling morn ; 

Birds sing wheresoe'er we roam. 
Flowers the fields and woods adorn ; 
All hail my line 'midst dancing foam ! 
Now look out — 
Silent stand — 
And a trout 

Will kiss my hand. 

Hail the graceful siiver gleam ! 

Lo ! a trout, with sudden spring, 
Forms a spray-bow o'er the stream, 
And is added to my string. 
Verbum sap, 
Flip, flop, flap. " 



190 Fishing in American Waters. 

The above pastoral was contributed by a clergyman who 
is as eloquent in the pulpit as he is persuasive along the 
streams. The disciples were fishermen. 

The bait-rod should be a little heavier and longer than the 
fly-rod. I prefer one not less than fifteen feet in length, 
formed of four joints, the top one lancewood ; and in place 
of rings, I prefer guides of aluminum. A click multiplier is 
the best reel. In angling a stream of tangled brush margin, 
it may be fished without the bottom joint by tying on the 
reel; and in carrying the rod through brambles, it is best to 
unjoint, leaving the line and reel on when the distance is only 
from one trout pool to another, or not more than a mile. The 
bait-fisher is much more eager in pursuit of his game than is 
the fly-fisher. He threads his way through thorns and bram- 
bles that appear impenetrable to any one but a bait-fisher. 
He prefers to wade the stream if it be not too deep, but he 
permits nothing to prevent him from fishing all the pools. 
He generally prefers to fish down stream,*and if he discovers 
fresh tracks of an angler gone before, he will either endeavor 
most adroitly to get before him, or he will fish so slow as to 
let the trout recover from the fright caused from the disturb- 
ance of the waters by the angler ahead of him. In the mean 
time the foremost angler is continually on the alert to see 
that no one gets before him on the stream ; but if he suspects 
an attempt to outflank him, he pretends to reel up and pre- 
pare for home, when in reality he is only putting up his tackle 
to make a long detour and arrive at the stream at a greater 
distance below his adversary. The bait-fisher does not — like 
the fly-fisher — fish all the stream, but knows how to judge 
where the trout lie in wait for bait. The fly-fisher often 
takes them from the shallow reefs before they seek their hid- 
ing-places, where the bait-fisher finds them. Bait-fishing is, 
of all field-sports, the parent of more patience and eager per- 
severance than any other. 



Gloeious intellectual Musestgs. 



191 



CHAPTER IV. 

LESSON BY "JOSH BILLINGS." 

Anglees with bait 
are a more queer, 
quaint, peculiar class 
of sportsmen than are 
the devotees of the 
fly, and they include 
in their class students 
deeply read in nature 
and books. If you de- 
sire to find an original 
genius, you will nioSt 
readily succeed among 
anglers with bait, who 
use primitive rods and 
tackle, and follow the 
streams solitary and 
silent, in a meditative 
mood, enjoying the 
sights and sounds of 
nature unmolested by the presence of the less contemplative 
fly-fisher, or the worshiper of dog and gun. Such a one Josh 
Billings appears to be, with his coat buttoned on the wrong 
side, if his writings are any index to the man. His lesson is 
included in the following original verse : 

"Whare the dul stream 
Haz fatted tew a pulp 
The sooty arth, 

Go seek the dark-skinned alder 
(A tiny forest), 
And from the crowded growth 
Selekt a slender wand, 




192 Fishing in American Waters. 

Tru tapering from base to pinnakel, 

Four yards in length. 

Bee it thy care 

Smoothly the bark tew cleave from awl the pole 

Save near the springy top. 

Thare leave the natiff kivver two feet or more ; 

Haply thus the game no fear will hav 

When thwart the brook yu stretch the reed." 

Anglers will agree that " Josh" has studied both the rod 
and the habits of trout, for he describes what a fishing-rod 
should be for general use in angling along a stream, where 
reels and jointed rods are scarcely ever seen. The favorite 
baits for such anglers are, 1st, angle-worms, or common earth- 
worms, kept in moss a day to scour, and then sometimes 
sprinkled with milk to feed them, and still not to darken their 
color ; 2d, the white grub-worm, found in great numbers by 
splitting decayed logs of soft maple or cherry ; 3d, the shiner 
of the brook ; 4th, the grasshopper. The two latter baits are 
preferred by members of highest rank in the profession ; and 
in lieu of the shiner, when near the coast, they use smelt and 
spearing with nearly equal success. 

THE ARDENT ANGLER. 

Our wide acres and free streams are favorable to the cul- 
tivation of liberal, poetical, and artistic ideas, and I select the 
following verse from a poem by a gifted student at painting 
and the fine art of angling : 

"We break from the tree-groups, a glade deep with grass; 
The white clover's breath loads the sense as we pass. 
A sparkle — a streak — a broad glitter is seen, 
The bright Callikoon through its thickets of green ! 
We rush to the banks — its sweet music we hear ; 
Its gush, dash, and gurgle all blent to the ear. 
No shadows are drawn by the cloud-covered r;n, 
We plunge in the crystal, our sport is begun. 
Our line, where that ripple shoots onward, we throw ; 
It sweeps to the foam-spangled eddy below ; 
A tremor — a pull — the trout upward is thrown, 
He swings to our basket — the prize is our own!" 

Alfred B. Street. 



The Hakmony of Nature. 



193 




The ardent Anglek. 



I have also seen excellent fly-fishers with such an extem- 
porized rod as Josh Billings recommends. On Pine Creek, 
in Pennsylvania, anglers who fish for a livelihood use such a 
rod, and fish with only one clumsily-tied fly. They wade the 
stream — which is a good plan to avoid meeting rattlesnakes 
— and to a string tied over the left shoulder and under the 
left arm they attach their fish, and tow them along as they 
angle down the stream. On some days they take from thirty 
to fifty pounds of trout. On Trout Run, a tributary to Ly- 
coming Creek, the best native anglers use a rod formed of 
two hickory joints lashed together, and a top joint of whale- 
bone lashed on — whole length about nine feet. They fish 
down stream, wading the middle of the creek where not too 
deep, and casting right and left some forty feet, under boughs 
which barely clear the water, bringing out large prismatic 
beauties at nearly every cast with a single fly of domestic 
make. They do this where gentlemen amateurs, from all 
parts of the country, find it extremely difficult to get a rise 
to their superior flies, though presented with the best make 

K 



194: Fishing in American Watees. 

of split bamboo rod, handled by expert anglers. The natives 
tie on their click reel ; and for guides and top, use loops of 
leather or raw-hide. 

Heprenons notre Discours.- — Of bait-fishing nothing seems 
more simple to the uninitiated than to be able successfully 
to angle with a worm. Mere urchins have succeeded with a 
rough stick, linen line, and clumsy hook, more clumsily tied 
on, and covered with a worm, in landing a goodly-sized fish. 
But this is a mere matter of luck, and it would be absurd to 
classify the performance among the efforts of scientific bait- 
anglers. 

Entertaining, as I really do, great respect for many bait- 
fishers of trout, I the more cheerfully present the following 
opinion from the genial angler and man of genius, Thomas 
Tod Stoddart, whose " Companion" and "" Anglers' Rambles 
and Songs" have afforded me so much pleasure and instruc- 
tion: 

" It may perhaps startle some, and those no novices in the 
art, when I declare, and offer moreover to prove, that worm- 
fishing for trout requires essentially more address and expe- 
rience, as well as better knowledge of the habits and instincts 
of the fish, than fly-fishing." He does not refer to the prac- 
tice followed in brooks and petty streams, nor as pursued 
after heavy rains in discolored waters, and goes on to say : 
"My affirmation bears solely on its practice as carried on 
during the summer months in Scotland, when the waters are 
clear and low, the skies bright and warm. Then it is, and 
then only, that it ought to be dignified as sport ; and sport 
it assuredly is, fully as exciting, perhaps more so than angling 
with the fly or minnow." 

As I agree in the method recommended by this teacher, I 
will give its principal features, and leave with the angler to 
decide in his course of practice between us. " The rod should 
approach seventeen feet in length, but light, top pieces some- 
what stiff, of lance or hickory." 

The common trouting-line of stained silk and hair, tapering 



Rig foe Bait-fishing. 195 

from the middle to each end, as sold by our fishing-tackle 
men, is the best. The same may be said of the ordinary click 
reel, though it were better did it multiply. " The casting- 
line of silk -worm gut should be well tapered, and seven 
lengths of long single gut, tinged rather than dyed with the 
ordinary decoction of logwood and alum. The knots should 
be tied with care, but not whipped with thread — an operation 
which should be confined solely to the upper joints of the 
line. They ought to be of picked material, sound, clear, and 
fine, without flaw or fretting." 

Hooks should be of finest steel, needle-pointed, and either 
the common Aberdeen round bend, Hutchinson's round bend, 
Sproat's bend, or the Kinsey bend, known as the Pennsylva- 
nia trout-hook. " Before attaching the snell or gut, file and 
break off from a quarter to half an inch of the shank, which 
is usually too long." This I have found best with hooks for 
small striped bass, which weigh each from half a pound to 
three pounds. Tie on the hooks with red silk, well waxed. 
"Some worm-fishers of celebrity adopt a small projection of 
gut or bristle, as in the tackle used for the stone fly," etc. 

Sinkers should be made of split shot, from all sizes between 
pigeon and buck shot, according to the tide or current, or 
by winding sheet-lead round the line a foot or more above 
the hook. The bait should play under water, be kept mov- 
ing, and never allowed to sink to the bottom or float on the 
surface ; and when the current is swift, shot should be dis- 
tributed above the regular sinker on the casting-line. 

The best bait-anglers seldom use a float ; when they do it 
is very small, only large enough to float the lightest sinker 
that will answer for the water. Casts should be regularly 
made, and the bait kept moving as if it were a fly under wa- 
ter ; or if in the current of a stream, should be made to move 
with the current, as if there were no hook in it. The head 
of the worm should be broken off, and the hook so baited 
Avith the remainder as to leave an inch of the tail free to play 
naturally. 



196 Fishing est American Waters. 

Of the varieties of angle-worm, that with rings, from five 
to six inches long, and about the size of a wheat-straw, is the 
best. Place the lot dug for fishing in cold water a little salt- 
ed, and leave them in five minutes ; then take them out, and 
place them on a dry board for ten minutes. To farther scour 
them, place them in swamp-moss which is damp, but not 
wringing wet ; let them remain over night, and next morning 
go a-fishing. 

The grub-worm is best in streams after a shower, because, 
being white, it shows best in discolored water. But the best 
bait of all for trout, to my notion, is a live shiner. Large 
trout will take it in preference to any other bait. As trout 
do not usually bite freely previous to a shower, it is best to 
bait-fish in the rain, or just after it has ceased. Fish know 
by instinct when it is going to rain, and they fast until it be- 
gins, because they expect the rain to swell the stream and 
bring down to them all sorts of delicacies ; therefore, as soon 
as it commences to rain, they take any thing offered which 
they can swallow. 

It is the angler's diity and pleasure to study all the pecu- 
liarities of weather, with the habits and haunts of trout, and 
to practice upon them; for as the bait-fisher does not usu- 
ally whip all the surface of the water, but selects his places 
to drop his bait, it is necessary to know on which side of a 
rock or log it is natural for the trout to lie in wait for bait. 
The successful bait-angler studies also the condition of the 
water, and selects his favorite pools, while the fly-fisher looks 
for a gentle wind that will carry his flies off, and trusts to his 
skill and good fortune for attracting sport. 

Fly-fishing possesses its peculiar advantages. As a means 
of exercise, it reaches just the degree to brace the muscles, ex- 
ercise the temper, enliven the spirits, and produce the alter- 
nations between hope and despair characterized as sport. It 
encourages fine address and graceful attitudes, produces ear- 
nestness and even enthusiasm, and while the practice in niinu- 
tise is not so close as to pin the mind to earth, every sound of 



Alone with Nature. 197 

bird or sight of flower is enjoyed by the devotee, and as he 
casts his eyes aloft and around, the earth appears a paradise, 
and anglers the only appreciative recipients of its blessings. 
Hence, from the variety of emotions which entrance the mind 
of the angler, men of genius and learning, especially those of 
ideal temperament, such as poets, painters, sculptors, philoso- 
phers, and worshipers of nature, become so penetrated with 
the beauties which surround its pursuit, that the cold, calcu- 
lating outer world deems them mad upon a trivial subject. 
But it was owing solely to the pleasures which angling con- 
fers that Thomson, Burns, Scott, Hogg, and a host of other 
acknowledged worthies, succeded by Prof. Wilson, Words- 
worth, King Leopold, Dr. Bethune, and Daniel Webster, ea- 
gerly exchanged the gray goose-quill and the fellowship of 
books for the gently-tapering trout-rod and the music of the 
rills and cascades, older than the rhythm of Homer, and as at- 
tractive as the propositions of Socrates. " Therefore it was 
that Paley left his meditative home, and Davy his tests and 
crucibles, Chantrey his moulds, models, and chisel-work — each 
and all to rejoice and renovate themselves," and to fish up 
new ideas as with the gentle wand they cast their lines in 
pleasant places, playing trout in sparkling waters, and enjoy- 
ing a sportive recreation which ever fills the mind with pure 
and joyous emotions, tempered by serene philosophy. 




198 



Fishing in American Waters. 



SECTION SECOND. 

ANGLING FOR CHILDREN. 

" Come when the leaf comes, angle with me, 
Come when the bee comes crossing the lea ; 
Come with the wild flowers, 
Come with the mild showers, 
Come when the singing bird calleth for thee !" 

Stoddart. 

trange ! I sometimes involun- 
tarily ejaculate when I see 
people economize the necessa- 
ries of life in order to be able 
to support a carriage and dress 
the family fancifully, to take 
them on a drive in the country 
over dusty roads as an airing 
and exercise for the promotion 
of health. 

Of course, exercise in the 
open air is necessary for the 
preservation of good health; 
and a residence in a city where 
the only breathing-places are 
its parks, or in the few country 
places which are remote from 
waters that oiler the recreation 
of angling, there is an excuse 
for the next means in the sim- 
ple catalogue for promoting 
and preserving health, which is 
driving or riding on horseback. 
But in our country of broad 
acres and free fishings, every 
parent should teach his children to angle. The sport, which 
is not laborious, soon renders the young student so ardent m 
its pursuit that he will get sufficient exercise, while his mind 




Tempering youthful Ambition. 199 

will be rendered logical by the realization of cause and effect, 
and his whole being will soon become attuned to the harmo- 
nies of nature. The pleasurable exercise and anxieties in the 
practice of angling rest and recuperate the mind, so that 
children are thereby enabled to commit their school lessons 
to memory with greater ease, and to understand them more 
fully. 

A small stream to angle in from the shore, or a pond to 
row out on and anchor the boat to fish from, is a great lux- 
ury which a family should not omit the enjoyment of. I have 
noticed with pleasure that the taste for angling has been in- 
creasing annually for the past ten years with our ladies. They 
begin to delight in fishing excursions and in the harmony of 
angling. There is, therefore, hope of a large crop of anglers 
from the rising generation. Twenty years ago there were 
scarcely a dozen ladies in the metropolis who could scull a 
boat, but now many ladies ply a pair of sculls very grace- 
fully. With those families settled near the shores of the 
numerous water approaches to New York, and along Har- 
lem River, the taste is setting in favor of light, buoyant, com- 
fortable, and elegant row-boats ; and morning and evening, 
these boats, laden with joyous families of children, lend an 
enlivening charm to the scene. 

Sometimes papa and mamma take the children a-fishing. 
Whenever they do, they should supply them with a light 
bamboo rod, and attach at a joint one third from the top end 
a very fine silk or linen line ; wind it a few times round the 
rod, and cast two half hitches over the top end ; then affix a 
float according to the depth of the water, so that the bait will 
sink within six inches of the bottom, and a foot above the 
hook fasten to the line from one to three split shot. Let the 
hook be the minnow size, and the bait — a piece of angle-worm 
dug the day previous, and laid in moss or green grass over 
night to scour, if for small fresh-water fishes — should merely 
cover the point of the hook. Never bait with the head of 
the worm ; always break that off and throw it in the water. 



200 Fishing in American Waters. 

Sometimes it is best to take an extra supply of worms, and 
cut some of them into small pieces and throw them into the 
fishing-pool to attract the fishes to the place where you in- 
tend angling. The liver of any animal is good bait for sun- 
fish, shiners, chubs, dace, etc. If angling in salt-water for 
white perch, smelt, spearing, porgees, and tomcods, use shrimp 
for bait ; or, if they can not be procured, use either soft or 
hard shell clam. Rig the line with only one hook, and let 
papa regulate the whole tackle according to the size of the 
fishes to be angled for. 

Oh ! well do I remember the time when I first essayed to 
capture the finny beauties of the brook. I was about seven 
years old, and as my father, who was devoted to educational 
pursuits, had found both recreation and consolation in an- 
gling, he used sometimes to permit me to accompany him 
and carry his strings of trout, and finally rigged me out with 
a wand, line, and hook. The first fish that I caught was a 
shiner. The sensation caused by the bite of the fish, and the 
sight of the trembling and shining beauty as I cast it over 
my head, and when realizing, by running to my hook and 
learning that I had actually caught it, were moments as in- 
describable as they were ecstatic. I was anxious to return 
home at once and show the trophy to the family, and was 
not dissuaded until my larger comrades pointed out the pos- 
sibility of my taking a long string of such jewels. 

After practicing a season with this light tackle, it will be 
best to procure regular perch-tackle, and the next season a 
reel and trout-rod may be added to the outfit. Then grass- 
hoppers will be found the favorite bait for trout and young 
black bass, and small shiners and Avhite grub-worms will be 
found most attractive after a shower for large trout, black 
bass, perch, and now and then a sand pickerel, which some of 
the fishermen call doree. The lad will soon learn that the 
most rapturous sport is realized along a stream and among 
the birds as they chirp and sing while flitting from spray to 
spray, for they rightly regard the young angler as a friend, 



First Sense of Cause and Effect. 



201 



and so nearly a companion that they vie with each other in 
melody to charm him on. 

After tea both mamma and papa take a seat with the chil- 
dren in the punt, when papa rows out on the pond and an- 
chors the punt, and then baits the hooks and takes off the 
fish. This is the contemplative philosopher's recreation. It 
is simple, innocent, and charming. 

"Delicious musings fill the heart, and images of bliss; 
Ah! that all pictures of the past were innocent as this!" 

"Like distant music — heard at even, 
When the gold light has left the dying day — 
Which, like some spirit song from heaven, 
Swells softly, then as softly dies away ; 
Yet dieth not away within the soul, 
But leaves a soothing influence behind, 
That oft will in our thoughtful hours control 
The grosser, worldly cares that crowd the mind — 
Just so the thoughts of dearest friends will steal 
Over the pensive soul with fond reflections, 
And, waking slumbering chords of love, reveal 
Those hidden ties that bind our best affections ; 
And — goodness gracious, bless me ! — what a deal 
Of good it does to have such recollections!" — C. Bede. 




202 



Fishing in American Waters. 




The Salmon. — Salmo salar. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE SALMON. 

This is the head of a numerous species, or rather of many 
families. The body is covered with fine scales ; the fins are 
all soft-rayed except the second dorsal, which is composed of 
a soft adipose film. It has an air-bladder which extends the 
whole length of the abdomen. 

The genus Salmo contains those species, such as the salmon 
and trout, in which the upper jaw is formed by the superior 
maxillary bones — the intermaxillaries being small — situated 
between. the maxillaries. Usually these bones descend into 
the front of the superior maxillaries, and form the upper 
boundary of the mouth. The maxillaries, palatines, vomer, 
and even the tongue, are furnished with teeth. The bran- 
chiostegous, or gill rays, are about ten in number. 

Numerous species of this genus are found in the seas of the 
northern hemisphere, one of the largest of which is the com- 
mon salmon {Salmo salar. — Lin.), a fish too well known, both 
as to flavor and appearance, to require particular description. 
Cuvier states that it is found in all the arctic seas, whence it 
enters the rivers in the spring. 

The Salmo salar , which the inhabitants of the British Isles 
appropriately distinguish as both " noble" and " royal," be- 
cause it is the fish which affords them their highest degree 
of sport in angling, according to their estimate of the value 
of field-sports, has been differently esteemed for its esculent 
qualities at several periods in modern history, though at no 



Anglers the true friends of the Salmon. 203 

time have, its gamy qualities been questioned. In the eight- 
eenth century its shoals became so numerous as to make it 
necessary to guard, by a clause in indentures, against feed- 
ing apprentices with it more than two days in each week. 
This was the case in England and in some of its colonies. 
But from many of our rivers, which teemed with salmon at 
the beginning of the present century, this delicious and grace- 
ful fish has been driven away ; and were it not that — through 
the efforts of a few angling philosophers — the public has be- 
come sufficiently enlightened to see the necessity for the em- 
ployment of means to resto.ck our salmon rivers, it would be 
scarcely worth the time and ink necessary to describe the 
salmon in its varied aspects for the table, for commerce, and 
as an interesting feature in the recreative sports of the coun- 
try. 

But, thanks to a few public-spirited gentlemen, whose sci- 
entific discoveries were derived from experiments instituted 
at their own expense, the recent reports of the Fisheries Com- 
missioners of New England show that the waters are being 
restocked with such zeal and alacrity that it will not be more 
than five years before most of the rivers north of Pennsylva- 
nia will be literally repeopled with salmon. The favorable 
prospects thus extended, when coupled Vith the generosity 
of our Northern neighbors, whereby the Dominion permits us 
to compete equally with its own people in the leasing of Ca- 
nadian salmon-waters, gives hopeful promise that salmon-fish- 
ing with the fly will soon engage the attention of our anglers 
for striped bass during June and July, and thus add an inter- 
esting feature to the sports of the year, without trenching 
upon the best season for striped-bass angling. 

The Highlander who stated that " no man has any right to 
a hunter's badge who has not killed a red deer, an eagle, a 
salmon, and a seal," had never been in America, or he would 
have made some additions to his prerequisites. If it exhilar- 
ates and even astonishes to take a salmon in the modest riv- 
ers of the British Isles, with gaffers as helpers, who know 



20tt Fishing m American Waters. 

every cast in a pool, what must the sport be on the large, 
wild, and rapid rivers of Canada, with no adequate help ? 

Since we have no other choice, if we would go a salmon- 
fishing, hut to repair either to Scotland, Ireland, or to the Do- 
minion of Canada, and as several rivers in Canada are leased 
by American anglers, and all sportsmen from the States are 
liberally and even courteously treated there, I should give a 
preference to Canadian salmon-waters over those across the 
Atlantic, even were the fishings offered at the same price ; 
but in the matter of expense, Canada is much the most eco- 
nomical for our anglers. The fish are also much larger on this 
side on an average, the scenery is more majestic, and the riv- 
ers more grand. To spend a summer month on one of the riv- 
ers which empty on the north shore of the Gulf of the St. Law- 
rence is to rest the mind by the most absolute exclusion from 
the world. When I essayed the ascent of one of the great 
rivers which empty into the Gulf of St. Lawrence north of the 
island of Anticosti, the world was. tranquil. I rested there 
free from the news of civilization. For a month I admired 
the grandeur of the mountains, the majesty of the broad and 
rapid river, the elegant play of salmon, and the dexterity of 
the seals ; and at night the brilliancy of the northern horizon 
and gorgeousness of the lunar bow enraptured me. On my 
return down the river, I was astonished to hear that a great 
war was in progress between Prussia and Austria, and that 
the cholera was raging in many places ; but I was delight- 
fully surprised to learn that the Atlantic telegraph was in 
successful operation, though shocked at hearing of the dead- 
lock in Washington and the intention to impeach the Presi- 
dent. Neither of these important topics were spoken of when 
I left New York to visit the wilderness on the north side of 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence. I therefore advise those who de- 
sire to unbend the mind and become perfectly Rip Van Win- 
klefied, to try the rejuvenating effect of salmon-fishing in 
Canada. 

Anglers of the United States who desire to fish a salmon- 



Peepaeing to Staet foe Salmon. 205 

river in the dominion of Canada should club together and 
apply for the fluvial parts of rivers. The estuary is usually 
devoted to net-fishing, but it would be a better plan to apply 
for a whole river, and then have the estuary netted if prefer- 
red, or devote the whole river to fly-fishing. As salmon do 
not rise to the fly in the tidal parts of rivers, if the river is 
well stocked, the company might have the tidal part netted 
with sweep-nets to a certain extent, but gill-nets and other 
nets fastened to ground fixtures should be avoided. A party 
of four gentlemen own the lease of the Godbout, and permit 
no netting. It is contrary to law to fish on Sunday in any 
part of Canada. The government leases the rivers for a term 
of nine years, and the rivers unlet on the first day of each 
year are advertised by the government to be let to the high- 
est bidders. The places of residence of those tendering for 
fishings are not considered in letting a river, and if a gentle- 
man of the States overbids a Canadian, the river will be de- 
clared as his. Rivers are therefore hired by Europeans as 
well as by Canadians and citizens of the States. Prior to the 
formation of the Dominion of Canada out of the provinces, 
the salmon-rivers were under the control of the Minister of 
Crown Lands; but now they are managed by the Minister 
of Marine and Fisheries, at present the Hon. Peter Mitchell, 
to whom all applications should be made for leases of rivers. 
Rivers are either let in whole or in parts, each part permit- 
ting the use of a given number of rods, generally four. The 
fluvial part of the Moisie, for example, is divided into three 
fishings, the estuary being hired for fishing with nets. The 
other two parts accommodate eight rods. Parties, on making 
application to the Hon. P. Mitchell, at Ottawa, should state 
what number of rods they desire to accommodate, and on 
which side of the St. Lawrence they prefer a river. He will 
then forward the applicants a list of the rivers to be let, with 
such other information as he may deem necessary for their 
guidance. After receiving the list of rivers and a note of in- 
formation, they should apply to some gentleman of the Do- 



206 Fishing in American Waters. 

minion to make the tender for them. If necessary, on appli- 
cation, I will name a suitable person at the seat of govern- 
ment to whom they may apply with confidence. 

The course which I recommend to gentlemen of the States 
is pursued by sportsmen of Canada. The prices for the flu- 
vial parts of rivers are very modest. I belonged to a party 
of four anglers who hired the whole of the fluvial part of a 
first-class river for three hundred dollars for a single season. 
The leases of fluvial parts of rivers vary from two to six hun- 
dred dollars a year for from three to eight rods; and the 
price for guides or gaffers is a dollar a day. Canoes and pro- 
visions are cheap there ; a first-rate canoe may be purchased 
for from twelve to fifteen dollars ; and as for desiccated meats 
and canned vegetables, with potatoes and eggs, also wines 
and diffusible stimulants, they do not cost more than half the 
sum demanded for them in the States. Then, as an econom- 
ical summer trip of a month or six weeks, the cost is less than 
the expense of staying at a watering-place hotel, which is 
similar to a city hotel minus its comforts. If the lovers of 
field-sports in the United States can but be induced to try 
salmon-fishing, it will not be long before the rivers in the 
States will teem with the silver beauties. I have before me 
a score of five weeks' fishing in the Godbout for four rods. 
The total count was 279 salmon, weighing 3116 pounds, or the 
average weight of each fish 11^ pounds. They did not aver- 
age the use of more than three rods daily, or more than five 
days each week. I have seen larger takes, but this is a high 
score for salmon-fishing in any part of the world. 

As I have stated, an application to hire the fluvial or an- 
gling part of a salmon-river from the government of the Do- 
minion is to be for the term of nine years, and the prices of 
the rivers must necessarily advance as anglers multiply in 
numbers and America increases in wealth; for salmon-fish- 
ing, on the list of recreations which most deeply interest cul- 
tivated men, is esteemed a high art. 



To Renew our Youth. 207 

SECTION SECOND. 

OUTFIT FOR SALMON-FISHING. 

1 tent, either a marquee, wall-tent, or a common circular 
tent. 

2 rubber blankets. 
2 head-nets. 

1 musquito-bar. 

1 pair wading trowsers, water-proof and large. 

1 water-proof overcoat, large and light. 

1 oil-cloth coat and pants, to wear when fishing in the rain. 

2 pairs of pegged army shoes for wading. 
6 " heavy woolen half hose. 

1 pair of heavy woolen blankets. 

1 rubber bag, large size. 

1 rubber pillow. 

1 pint aqua ammonia, for applying to bites of black flies; 
for preventing the secondary effect of swelling. 

1 small case of medicines. 

To guard against being bitten by black flies and musqui- 
toes, carry a bottle of castor-oil mixed with a strong tincture 
of camphor. Some salmon-anglers employ a composition of 
tar and camphor, which gives them the tawny tint of the In- 
dian, though it is one of the best protections against flies. 
The black fly is the worst during daytime, while the musqui- 
toes and gnats begin their depredations at sundown and con- 
tinue until sunrise. Your gaffer should fumigate your tent 
every night before you retire with a smudge smoke. Both 
the head-net and musquito-bar should be used every night. 

For constant weai', day and night, supply yourself Avith a 
pair of woolen gloves extending near to the elbows, worn 
over the coat sleeve and held up by an elastic strap ; or sew 
a pair of cotton stocking-legs to the wrists of a pair of gloves, 
either dogskin, buckskin, or close and thick woolen gloves. 

A trip to Canada for salmon-fishing would be the gem of 
the year for all anglers, and even summer excursionists, were 



208 



Fishing in American Waters. 



it not for the flies ; yet thej'- are no worse there than they are 
in the Adirondacks, nor so bad as they are in the wilds of 
Maine and New Hampshire. 

A fishing-hat like No. 1 is formed of two parts, like 2 and 
3, the latter setting on the band of 2 so that the vents Avill 
not meet, but the outer ones alternate with the under ones 
just above the brim. The edge of 3 is tacked down on the 
brim, which leaves a space between that and the upright part 
of 2 of half an inch or more, and cover the sewing to the 
brim with a band. The ventilation of this hat is excellent. 
The hat is known by name as the Gibraltar hat, while others 
call it the Calcutta hat. . It is usually made of drab felt, and 
worn as an undress hat by European military officers when 
doing duty in warm climates. It is unquestionably the best 
ventilated hat made, except those from India, woven from 
grass or platted from bamboo ; but the felt ones are the best 
in shape, and lighter than the real Indian hat. 




Fishing-hat and Salmon-koi>. 



2 Salmon Rods. — The salmon-rod of four joints is indica- 
ted by Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7. The two upper joints are spliced with 
a small ring covering the end of each, as directed for the 
modern splice illustrated on another page. The following 
explanation I think worthy the attention of fly-fishers : 



An excellent Eod. 209 

"Sir, — Not the least pleasure of the angler consists in 
looking back upon the summer-time when he 'wandered 
dreamily away up among the hills by the side of a tiny beck, 
new to the angler, with no sound but the plover or the cur- 
lew, or the distant tinkle of the bell-wether ; no incumbrance 
but a light rod; no bother about what flies will or will not 
suit ; no tackle beyond a yard of gut and two or three hooks 
in a piece of brown paper ; a small bag of moss with well- 
scoured worms within ; a sandwich or cold mutton chop — 
the latter for preference — in one pocket, and a flask of the 
dew " that shines in the starlight when kings dinna ken in 
the other," etc., etc. ; and when autumn, with its bracing air, 
succeeded summer, to the wild, excited, yet concentrated 
thrill that shot through his frame when he hooked the " lord- 
ly salmon," and which lasted till he could say to himself, "It 
is my turn now ; you shall not have all your own way with 
me." ' 

" Such have been my feelings this cold, stormy winter even- 
ing, as I sat over a cosy fire in my easy-chair. I felt inclined 
to good fellowship with all anglers, especially such of them 
as have arrived at my time of life, when they naturally -look 
back to what they have been in preference to what they are 
now, but are still fond of the sport when strength and oppor- 
tunity allow of following it. For the especial benefit of the 
latter, if you and they think it worth accepting, I have turned 
to my writing-case to give you the particulars of a light sal- 
mon-rod, equally good for worm or salmon fishing, which I 
got made at home last year. 

"Its weight is lj lb. ; length, 15^ feet; first fish killed 
with it, 1 8 lbs. weight. 

"The first week in September this season I hooked and 
killed a male fish, 17 lbs., and hooked and killed on successive 
days seven fish, aggregate weight nearly 90 lbs., without los- 
ing any thing once hooked. Two or three had the sea-lice 
on them — one especially, a 15 ^-pounder, which for running, 
jumping, wheeling round and round in circles, shaking its 

O 



210 Fishing in American Waters. 

head, and lashing the water with its tail, exceeded any thing 
I ever had on. An old angler who was on the opposite side 
of the river, and has himself killed above fifty salmon this 
season, said it was the wildest fish he ever saw. 

"Well, not to be prolix, I give you the result of many 
hours' study in few words, prefacing them with the observa- 
tion that the rod is as straight and serviceable now as when 
first made, and has never failed or needed repair. 

"For the butt, 5f feet of well-seasoned, selected memel, 
with the fibre of the wood running straight in the direction 
of the rod ; if these conditions are not observed the wood is 
useless. For the middle piece, 4} feet of selected ash. For 
top, 4| feet of lancewood. The memel butt is brass-hooped, 
has good strong brass hoops for the wheel, and is joined to 
the ash middle-piece with the usual brass ferrule. The lance- 
wood top and ash middle-piece are joined with a new splice, 
which is superior to the ferrule joining for its lightness, im- 
possibility of any shifting, and the quickness with which it 
is put together. This is the ' modern splice for fly-rods,' 
which is illustrated and described on page 160, under the 
head of'Trouting Tackle.' 

" There are twenty rings, graduating in size from the butt 
to the top, including the top ring, which is just large enough 
to allow the line to run freely. Proper ringing of a rod dis- 
tributes the weight of a fish equally over it until it comes to 
the ring on the butt end. The rod graduates from the butt 
end to the top, is neither stiff nor supple, and throws a long 
line. The weight of the whole rod will give an idea of the 
thickness of each piece. 

" I wish to draw especial attention to the material of the 
butt, the ringing, and the new splice. This new form of 
splice obviates the only objections (loss of time in tying, 
loosening of splice during use, and the wearing of the ends 
of the splice) against a spliced rod, and renders it incompar- 
ably superior to a ferruled rod." 

Francis Francis states that " the best wood is unquestion- 



A MOST IMPOBTAJSTT IMPLEMENT. 211 

ably greenheart, and next to it hickory ;" adding that they 
in the British Isles had tried bamboo, and found it a failure. 
He also thinks that ferruled rods are better than spliced ones 
for general use, and shows, by comparing their weights, that 
the ferruled ones are not appreciably heavier. Since Mr. Fran- 
cis gave an opinion against a bamboo rod, Dr. Clerk, of the 
firm of Andrew Clerk & Co., has visited Scotland in the sal- 
mon season, and carried with him a split bamboo rod made by 
their house. I have seen the same rod used in Canada, where 
it was pronounced, by such competent judges as officers of 
the army, the best they had ever seen in use.. The doctor 
stated that to be the opinion of the anglers and experts in 
Scotland. This -is the fourth season that it has been used, 
and, though it has played and killed many salmon weighing 
from twenty-five to thirty-five pounds each, yet it has never 
started in any part, but appears as good as new. Having 
seen it used by the side of Castle Connell and Martin Kelly 
specimens, I frankly confess that the split bamboo is vastly 
their superior in delivering a fly at a great distance, and re- 
trieving the line ; in playing a large fish while the angler is on 
the shore of a wide, rajfid river, and in all the essentials 
which conduce to elegance and satisfaction in salmon-fishing. 
The rod is twenty feet long, and not more than three fourths 
the weight of a greenheart or hickory of the same length. 
The reel is attached to bands from eighteen inches to two 
feet above the end of the butt, as easier to hold while racing 
down a river with a salmon. By the use of a couple of feet 
below the reel, the angler may place the butt under his left 
arm, and, with the rod perpendicular, let the rod and reel do 
their duty, while he runs an unequal race along a rocky shore, 
tangled with shrubbery and fallen timber. I sincerely be- 
lieve that the split bamboo is the perfection of a salmon-rod. 
Its make is a secret, but there is no doubt that the butt and 
second joint are corked with hickory or some one of our 
tough woods. The only part of the rod which is bamboo is 
the outside, composed of the outside and tough part of the 



212 Fishing in Ameeican "Watees. 

bamboo, and wound at intervals of six inches throughout its 
length with waxed silk lashings. Of course the rings are 
graduated in number to the length of the rod. 

The angler, on visiting Canada for salmon-fishing, should be 
armed with two rods, or an extra rod besides his bamboo, but 
should expect to fish with the bamboo. I am partial to a 
three-jointed rod over a four-jointer; but either of them may- 
be balanced well. I am also in favor of the lower joint being 
ferruled, and the others fastened with the " modern splice" of 
bands at each end of the splice. The bamboo rod should be 
from nineteen to twenty-one feet long. For a second rod, I 
should recommend one rather stiffer than the bamboo, in- 
tended, if necessary, for angling from a boat. It should be 
from sixteen to nineteen feet long, and the hickory ones made 
by Martin Kelly, of Dublin, are preferable to any that I have 
seen except the split bamboo. The Castle Connell rods are 
rather top-heavy, and approximately double-acting, with a 
kick in the butt which nearly upsets a person when wading in 
a three-feet-deep rapid water. Mr. Johnson, of Boston, makes 
an excellent salmon-rod, and so does Robert Welch, of New 
York. I suppose that Pritchard Brothers might make a good 
salmon-rod, as they are old salmon-fishers. An excellent sal- 
mon-rod is made with hickory butt, next joint of ash, a third 
of lancewood, and top of split bamboo ; all of the same pat- 
tern as a Long Island trout-rod, only heavier and longer. 
The butt should be ferruled, and the other two joints spliced. 

2 Click Reels. — Each of these should be large enough to 
carry a hundred and fifty yards of English salmon-line ; that 
is, a silk, or silk and hair braided line, tapering, and protected 
by varnish from becoming water-soaked. Good salmon-reels 
are only to be procured at our best fishing-tackle establish- 
ments, and it is worse than love's labor lost to use any other. 

1 spare line for the reels. 

6 casting-lines of twelve feet in length each, made of stained 
gut, one fourth three-ply at the upper end, one fourth two- 
ply next, both twisted, and six feet of single gut. Let the 



Concluding the List of Tackle. 213 

gut be round, clear, and perfect, and as strong as you can 
procure. 

2 horse-hair casting-lines, from eighty to one hundred feet 
long each, braided in the form of a whip-lash, and nearly one 
fourth of an inch in diameter in the centre. Pritchard Broth- 
ers make this upper casting-line to perfection. It is light, 
and its shape greatly assists casting, while it is not so liable 
to sink and drown as the silk, or silk and hair line, though 
protected with varnish. This casting-line is a desideratum 
not to be neglected. Before splicing it to your reel-line, cut 
off from the latter as many yards as you add by the upper 
casting-line. 

6 dozen, or nearly a gross, of assorted salmon-flies, and a 
quantity of materials to enable you to duplicate the size and 
color of either ; for salmon of different pools in the same 
river have different tastes, and keep changing so frequently 
that a Montreal fly of brown mallard wings, claret body, and 
golden pheasant top-knot for tail, which they curved their 
velvet tails at yesterday, is the favorite to-day, to be super- 
seded to-morrow, perhaps, by a Tweed fly. When the angler 
runs nearly out of a favorite fly, he, selects a hook of the same 
size and combines the same colors to mount it with; and 
though it be not artistically tied, it generally proves success- 
ful, for salmon do not scrutinize very closely when they wit- 
ness the combination of colors which they admire. When yel- 
low is the favorite color, and you have run out of flies of that 
tint, tie a new fly, or, if in a hurry, add yellow to another fly. 

1 hank of round, clear, and heavy silk- worm gut, stained. 

GAEE-HOOKS. 

A is the salmon-bend gaff, and B the striped bass. The dis- 
tance across the bend of the first is' 2-J- inches, and 2| across 
the bend of B. The screws are of steel or brass, to fit into a 
handle six feet long, and composed of two joints. The gaffs 
should be heavy, and from one fourth to three eighths of ah 
inch in diameter in the heaviest parts. 



214 



Fishing in American Waters. 




Gaff-hooks 



In addition to the foregoing list, do not omit a couple of 
changes of heavy woolen clothing. At the far north, where 
it is light enough to read twenty hours of the day, the other 
hours are cold enough for several blankets and overcoats. 
For the employment of guides, cook, gaffers, and the pur- 
chase of canoes, it is best to employ an agent in Quebec or 
Gaspe. Mr. Willis Russell, of the St. Louis Hotel, Quebec, al- 
ways takes great pleasure in advancing the interests of an- 
glers from the States, and, on application, will name or ap- 
point suitable persons and direct them. 

Of supplies for subsisting the party, either Quebec or Gaspe 
are equally advantageous for the south side of the Gulf, but 
for the north side I should prefer to supply at Quebec. 

Smokers will find segars and kinnikinnik, with brier- wood 
pipes, or a meerschaum, something of a protection against 
flies. Parties that prefer may charter a schooner at Quebec 
or. Gaspe for. five dollars a day, including a navigator and 
two sailors, who subsist themselves for that sum, the whole 
expense being only five dollars a day for having a vessel 
manned at the party's command. 

Thus, having studied the subject and made our prepara- 
tions, we propose starting for Canada or Labrador on a sal- 
mon-fishing excursion, and pray the reader to accompany us 
in spirit while we recall our recollections of one of our trips 
to Canada. 



The Start. 



215 



Having previously expressed the bulk of our outfit to 
Quebec, the banker and myself started from New York in 
marching trim, with the few. articles here illustrated, to wit : 
Water-proof satchels — salmon-reel — clearing ring and reel — 
scap-nets— gafF— trout-basket — leather case containing rods 
— and a bottle of hartshorn to cure fly-bites. 




SECTION THIRD. 

DEPARTURE FOB SALMON-FISHING. 

The noble Northern rivers that pierce the mountain chain, 
Where leap the gleaming salmon in their watery domain, 
Invite us to their waters, by the fir-tree shadow'd shore, 
Their shoals, and pools, and torrents with fish-rod to explore. 

s our party consisted of four 
gentlemen and two ladies, we 
concluded to divide routes, 
three" going from Quebec via 
Gaspe to the St. John River, 
while the banker, his lady, 
and myself awaited the de- 
parture of the government 
steamer Victoria, and, as it 
proved, this Avas an unexpect- 
ed advantage, for. the steamer 
was employed by government to provision the light-houses 
along the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the island 
of Anticosti, to assist wrecked mariners, and accomplish the 




216 Fishing in American Waters. 

double office of charity and police. I was especially thank- 
ful for so good aii opportunity for seeing the salmon-rivers on 
the north shores which come rushing and tumbling down 
every few miles from mountain heights, to swell the tides of 
the Gulf. It gave me the advantage of conversing with the 
government agents who superintend the fisheries, some of 
whom had been employed to supervise the fisheries under the 
Hudson Bay Company for many years ; and all agreed that 
the Company had greatly depleted the rivers of salmon, and 
necessitated the exercise of wisdom and care on the part of 
the government to restock them with a supply as ample as 
would be required for rendering them profitable, besides sup- 
plying the needs of the growing population. I was glad to 
be thus furnished with data for correctly reporting the con- 
dition of the salmon-fishery; and in that report to the Spirit 
of the Times , having had no pique or prejudice to gratify, 
but, on the other hand, entertaining the most lively sense of 
gratitude for the hospitality with which I was every where 
greeted, I expressed the wish that their peojde might become 
" altogether such as we are, except our bonds." 

The week's sojourn at the St. Louis in Quebec was in itself 
a great treat. The hotel is first class, and intrinsically good. 
Mr. Russell, its accomplished proprietor, is enterprising, and 
his guests are as well served as are those of the best hotels 
in New York, leaving nothing to be desired. The suburbs 
of Quebec are beautiful, besides being interesting from a his- 
torical point of view. In sight of the city are the Falls of 
Montmorenci, the picturesque islands in the river below the 
city, Point Levi on the opposite shore, with a broad belt of 
green foliage and pasture lighted up by country residences, 
some of which partake- 1 — with their surroundings — largely of 
the ornate. The weather was highly refreshing, and the 
promenade on the Plaza, with the enlivening music belonging 
to the military station, made the time pass gayly. I would 
here state, parenthetically, that Quebec is a beautiful place to 
remain for a few days on a bridal tour. But the day arrived 



A Settlement of Fishermen. 21/T 

for our departure on the Victoria. Our passage was very 
agreeable, and on the morning of the fourth day we were 
landed at the mouth of the St. John, some six hundred miles 
from Quebec, and with the hazy outline of the island of An- 
ticosti in sight to the south. 

We were rejoiced at finding a hamlet of huts, where resid- 
ed the cod fishermen of the station, who employed some sixty 
smacks, and were in full tide of operation, fishing with hand- 
lines on the banks between the main shore and Anticosti. 
The salmon-fishers of the estuary also resided there, and were 
fishing with gill-nets fastened to stakes which were fixed in 
the bottom of the river, but not technically called stake-nets. 
Mr. J. Beaulieu, a superintendent or fishery warden, resides 
also at the mouth of the St. John during the salmon season. 
The doctor, with the general and his lady, having arrived two 
days previously, had ascended the river with canoes to the 
plateau where we designed encamping, twenty-seven mile's 
up the river, and had sent back two canoes and guides for us. 
While the grocer was preparing our breakfast of fried sal- 
mon, with salt pork, bread, butter, and English breakfast tea, 
I concluded to reconnoitre, and soon found that curiosity 
called the black fly, who left his mark on my nose. I saw 
also the salmon -netters land with their boats, containing 
many salmon which were either headless or showed signs of 
having been bitten in different parts of the body, and so mu- 
tilated by the seals, and perhaps otters and minks, as to be 
entirely valueless. I therefore concluded that either the seals 
.should be destroyed, or that salmon should not be taken with 
gill-nets fastened to stationary stakes in the stream, where 
all water-vermin can feast on the struggling salmon, helpless- 
ly fastened in the meshes, from whence many of them, bitten 
in pieces, necessarily drift down the current to pollute the 
river, and warn salmon just entering to seek some other 
spawning-ground. 



218 



Fishing m American Waters. 



OUR START UP THE ST. JOHN. 

After breakfasting bountifully we repaired to our canoes, 
where we found our baggage stowed appropriately, and were 
invited to take seats on the bottom and in the centre of the 
canoes, our four willing guides manning the bow and stern 
of each canoe with paddles, iron-pointed setting-poles, and a 
long rope attached to each bow for towing us up the rapids 
along the shores, which they call " cordeliering." On the fir- 
brush flakes, which bordered the shore and covered acres, 
were strewn codfish to dry, whose fragrant aroma seemed to 
threaten even the black flies. The water was enlivened by 
thousands of sea-trout, foraging in every direction and leaj)- 
ing after flies. But we bade the last signs of human abode 
adieu, and started up the river, through deep mountain gorges 
of rock, whose summits were sparsely covered with small fir- 
trees. It was a pleasant morning in June, and we had not 
gone far before our Canadian guides began to chant, without 
regard to the time of day, their favorite river music of 



Doux 




AVE MAEIA. 






A - ve Ma- ri - a ! Car voi- ci l'heure sainte 
cres. ------------- 



La cloche 



tin-te, A - ye Ma- ri - a ! 
Doux. 



f — W-^-^-^v--^ — q=— p-jp=F — 

Tous les petits Anges Au front radi - eux, 



— f — * — F — £-- 1~* — 0-3-1-+-0 — *-■: 



i 



m3i 



±z±: 



Chantentvoslou-an-ges, O Reine des cieux!A-ve Ma-ri- a! Car voi- 



: ^=t* 






ci l'heure sainte La cloche tin - te, 
f dim. 



A - ve Ma-ri - a! Tout 
PP 



- p—V-*-* 1 J--I ■ l /—^~i-0-0— ■</-!■ f- 

dort sous vo - tre aile L'enfant au ber - ceau, La pauvre hiron - delle Dans 



Scenery on the St. John River. 



219 



F — w- — jy — s j * 1- 5 i 1 -! — N-*f— - 1- 5 — # 



son nid d'oi - seau : A - vo 



sain-te 



Ma - ri - a ! Car voi - ci l'heure 

^t— ^ — frr— N: 



^^gll^ ps^ ^^gEgj 



La cloche tin - te, A - ve Ma - ri - a ! 



Vous etes la voile 

Du pauvre marin ; 
Vous etes l'etoile 
Du bon pelerin ; 
Ave Maria ! 
Car voici l'heure sainte 
La cloche tinte 

Ave Maria ! 
Vous etes servante 

Des pauvre blesses ; 
Vous etes l'amante 
Des coeurs delaisses. 
Ave Maria ! <&c. 



Votre nom si tendre 

Sur un front mortel, 
Fait toujours descendre 
La beaute du ciel 
Ave Maria ! 
Car voici l'heure sainte 
La cloche tinte 

Ave Maria ! 
Aussi les Maries 

En choeur gracieux, . 
A vous reunies 

Montent vers les cieux ! 
Ave Maria ! &c. 



Having journeyed too far north for the robin and bobolink, 
the stillness of the scene, whose monotony was only relieved 
by the dashing currents of a mighty river, the leaps of sal- 
mon and sea-trout, and the stealthy movements of the seal, 
now hiding, and now galloping up a rapid like a race-horse, 
at every leap throwing itself half out of water, gave us a fair 
chance for reflection, and to wonder that people could be found 
willing to settle in that sterile region. But, on inquiry, we 
found that none had yet ventured, not even an Indian, which 
furnished me with another evidence of human sagacity, for 
even bruin's anxious family know better than to settle there 
in great numbers. We passed a late Hudson-Bay fishing- 
station, where remain standing their log huts and birch-bark 
smoke-houses wherein they cured their salmon; but since 
their charter expired several years since — grace to the sal- 
mon — there is not a human soul settled above the mouth, 
within fifty miles of it. 

On our guides rowed, poled, and " cordeliered" — stopping 
only to eat a mouthful of bread and raw onion — until sun- 
down, which found us seventeen miles on our journey. Here 



220 Fishing in American Waters. 

we halted for the night, saw the canoes unladen and hauled 
on shore, a fire quickly made to keep off the flies and enable 
us to extemporize a supper with scarcely any vessel to cook 
in or eat out of, pitch our tent, etc. While these duties were 
going forward, a large salmon, of over 20 lbs. weight, leaped 
several feet above the pool in front of our tent, and not thir- 
ty feet from shore. As quick as thought was one of our 
guides seen skulking along the shrubby margin of the river, 
waiting to see the seal which was the cause of the leap of 
the salmon. Presently the seal made- its appearance in the 
middle of the river, and in the strength of the rapid, swim- 
ming with its head above water, and looking like a young 
negro bathing. It turned its head and looked all around, ap- 
parently in surprise, as if scenting danger, while approaching 
the shore in response to the plaintive call of the man with 
the rifle ; but the gunner was too slow on the trigger, and 
the seal went on its way rejoicing. 

Boughs of fir, for bedding, were cut by the guides and laid 
in our tent while we were taking supper. Our first night of 
tenting in the wilderness was signalized by pleasant dreams, 
and we arose early, made our toilets, and watched the salmon 
disport in the rapids while breakfast was being prepared, 
and canoes launched and reladen. 

After breakfast we started for our camping-ground, ten 
miles farther up the river. The whole of this distance may 
be properly considered a rapid, and one third the way a very 
dangerous one. Salmon were abundant. While many were 
leaping above the current in the middle of the river, scores 
were seen darting from near the shores where our guides 
were tugging along. 

All animate nature seemed more than usually active that 
morning. The seals were out in force and galloping up the 
rapids. Salmon were leaping and splashing, and even the 
silver trout were breaking, as if to demonstrate that they too, 
though less important, were gay and happy. 

While admiring the mountains of rock, sparsely covered 



A Duck of a Mother. 221 

with a very thin apology for a forest, the close thicket of 
birch and poplar which bordered the river, and the numer- 
ous shoots of a wide river of pellucid waters, in which none 
but the highest styles of game-fish found a residence, a duck 
shot out from the shore with a little brood of over a dozen 
following her. I told Duncan — my guide and gaffer — to 
slacken the speed of the canoe. I was interested in this duck 
of a mother with a numerous brood. Her anxiety was ex- 
citing. For an instant she would turn toward her brood and 
urge them with the most impressive gestures to quack-qua- 
qua-ka-qua-qua-ka-ka, and then she would turn from them 
and swim toward the middle of the river in utmost speed ; 
but, bethinking herself, she would turn again and find the 
little ducks a great way behind. Then she would swim back 
toward them, and qua-qua-qua-ka-ka-ka until the little things, 
beginning to realize their critical situation, would use their 
wings as well as their feet, and make many shell-drake splut-' 
tering demonstrations, until, by the numerous turns of the 
mother, her emphatic quacking calls, and their own exertions, 
they gained the opposite shore of the river, and we acceler- 
ated our speed. But we had not proceeded far before we 
ran against a rock, and broke a hole in the bow of our bark 
canoe that made us land and unship cargo. A fire, by the 
means of birch bark, which is the most ignitable substance 
in the forest, heated some pitch, and with a piece of cotton 
cloth six inches square, the hole was patched and pitched so 
as to render it water-tight and as good as new. In the mean 
time our friends overtook us, and we discussed the " cussed" 
hard traveling. My friend was on the point of musically ex- 
claiming, " Oh, carry me back !" but we changed it into the 
following voluntary ; 

" 'Twixt you and I, I almost think 

It's almost time to take a drink, 

For we're all nearly home." 

We agreed with him, and, after imbibing a glass of sherry, 
once more started to admire the beauties of the water, for 



222 Fishing in American Waters. 

there were none on the land; though, to speak candidly, the 
hills were sometimes so low along the river, and the sun and 
shade so captivating, that it appeared as if we might find or- 
chards and gardens over the first small hill; and I often asked 
my friend to run over and bring us some fruits and melons, 
but he reluctantly declined, for fear, of encountering Mrs. 
Bruin and her anxious family. But with stout hearts, and 
the brawny arms of our guides, we soon reached our tenting- 
ground. 

SECTION FOUKTH. 

THE ENCAMPMENT. 

.'Twixt the fir-tree skirted ranches, 

Where the Battling Run doth shine, 
We erect our hut of branches, 

Roof of birch bark, wall of pine ; 
Floor it with the boughs of saplings, 

Fragrant, soft as couch of kings, 
Rioting in forest pleasures, 

And the sleep that labor brings. 

It was nearly noon when we arrived at our camping- 
ground, which is a level piece of bottom-land, covered with 
sand and cobble-stones, a mile long, by the river shore, and a 
quarter of a mile wide, the base formed by Rattling Run, a 
small river emptying into the St. John just below our tents. 
It was a very hot day — hot is the word for the middle of a 
clear, still day, from the 20th of June to the 20th of August, 
even in Labrador, where there is frost nearly every night. 
There was only one tent pitched ; but the lady was superin- 
tending the erection of a log cabin, while the gentlemen were 
away up the river angling for salmon. The lady sent her 
servant — a " contraband" that followed the general from Ten- 
nessee — to inform them of our arrival. 

I noticed with pleasure that the general's lady had not suf- 
fered much from the annoyance of flies. 

" Oh no," she replied ; " it's perfectly charming here ; one 
bit me on the eyelid before I knew what to apply for anti- 
dote, and it nearly closed it ; but now, as soon as I am bitten, 



Mutual Congratulations. 



223 



> '^^^^i^SMmiM^^^^ 







I just touch the bite with ammonia, and it gives me no pain, 
and never swells. The black flies do not trouble you after 
dark, and that's a great comfort." 

I saw a few signs of defaced beauty, but kept mum. In 
fact, on looking upon those two ladies, I felt proud of such 
specimens. One of them had visited most of the courts of 
Europe, and the other had accompanied her triumphant hus- 
band throughout our recent great war. We therefore num- 
bered six in the party, two ladies and four gentlemen ; and I 
am bound to acknowledge that, throughout our month of 
camp life, hundreds of miles from a post-office, the ladies ex- 
emplified the highest degree of spirit and pleasure, with the 
least appearance of annoyance at any discomfort ; and these 
were the two first white ladies that ever ascended the great 
St. John River. 

Having examined the surroundings, and admired the great 
contrasts of the heavens with the mountains, and the wide, 



224 Fishing in American Waters. 

rapid, roaring river, with its tributary of Rattling Run, and 
while I was beginning to scan the lay of the grounds for de- 
ciding where to pitch tents, behold our comrades ! They 
came fishing along, towing four salmon on the gaff, while 
the general played a fifteen-pounder all the way down from 
the falls, a mile up the river. 

It having become midday, we compared notes and took 
dinner. At dinner we discussed the almighty salmon in all 
his aspects — from his seclusion in corners of the earth, where 
he is protected by flies and an almost impenetrable wilder- 
ness, to his high game, and, finally, the epicurean appearance 
he lends to the dinner-table. Our dinner consisted of 

Saumon d la maitre cPhotel. 

Saumon frit. 

Saumon au gratin. 

Jambon brulee. 

JLes oignons de JBermude. 

Biscuit de mer. 

Le pain et du beurre. 

Du the et du sucre. 

Having twenty - seven miles of rapids, against which to 
transport our stores, our potatoes and our claret were left at 
the mouth of the river, besides our desiccated meats, soups, 
vegetables, and fruits preserved in cans. Even our old Ja- 
maica rum was left, and the only diffusible stimulant was gin 
— Holland gin ! But, in order that our coffee, milk, and the 
numerous luxuries laid in for the campaign should be on 
hand for the glorious Fourth of July, we divided our men 
and canoes, half to transport our provisions from the mouth 
to the camps, and the other half to serve in the way of pad- 
dling us to our places for angling, gaffing our salmon, and 
pitching our tents, waiting on us, cooking, etc. 

The general and the doctor had so excited my friend the 
banker and myself with stories of captivating sports, that, 
immediately after dinner, we hardly thought of a cigar, but 



Preparing for the Encounter. 225 

forthwith commenced splicing our rods. To save me that 
trouble, as he saw my anxiety, the doctor kindly tendered 
me the use of a Castle Connell rod, which, he stated, had 
nearly broken his back and used him up, but he hoped it 
woiTld behave more generously with me. It was a twenty- 
foot rod, by which a long cast could be made ; but it was so 
top-heavy, and with a sort of double action, like a " kick in 
the handle," that it came back on me several times, and 
made me sit down in the river to cool off; but not on that 
day. 

The doctor accompanied me, to give an idea where I would 
likely find salmon, and how I had best move my fly so as to 
render it captivating in that wide and rapid river. I ad- 
mired the river ; the breaks of salmon of from ten to twenty- 
five pounds each excited me. I soon thanked the doctor, 
and told him that I believed myself a match for them, when 
he ignited a cigar, and proceeded onward to where he ex- 
pected the salmon were waiting for his flies. 

Left alone, with the injunction that if I should hook a sal- 
mon, to shout for a gaffer to come to my assistance, as Dun- 
can had returned to the mouth of the river for provisions, I 
again examined my tackle. " It is true," thought I, " these 
fish average from eight to thirty-eight pounds only, and I 
have taken a forty-pound striped bass ; but my tackle for 
striped bass was a strong line, while here it is only a single 
silk- worm gut." 

Having intellectually weighed and investigated the theory 
of the audacious fish in that river of great power and majesty, 
and so examined that I thought all things were right, I made 
a cast and let my fly float round from the current to the side. 
I continued so to cast and drop down stream a step at each 
cast, about half an hour, when a salmon accepted my lure. 
The fish did not take the fly as a trout does by rushing at it 
from beneath, but rose over the fly and took it on going back. 
He soon convinced me that he was there by a jerk and a leap 
above water, and out farther into the river where the current 

P 



226 Fishing in American Wateks. 

was stronger. When he leaped, as he did numerous times, I 
lowered the top of my rod as if bowing to his mandate. By- 
and-by he suffered himself to be reeled up quite near me, no 
doubt because his curiosity prompted him to study the cause 
of his difficulty, and to try, if possible, to reach its source. In 
the mean time I was shouting for some man to come and gaff 
my salmon. 

After having scanned " the head and front of the offend- 
ing," he turned and ran off moderately until he arrived in the 
swiftest part of the current, and then all I could do would 
not stop him. I was therefore obliged to follow, and down I 
started along the stony shore for a quarter of a mile, when I 
became fatigued ; and, as if to spell me, the fish halted and 
remained until lie rested long enough, and then he rose and 
made a quadrilateral leap, or four leaps in as many directions 
at the same time. Said I, " My chap, you are some !" " How 
many lives have you got, anyhow?" thought I. But there 
was no use of thinking or speculating, for he had mounted his 
high horse again, and down the river I had to follow. My 
extemporized gaffer advised me to snub him. I replied that 
I had, but it was of no use. Presently he halted again, and, 
drenched with perspiration, I doffed my head fly-net and pre- 
pared to do battle in open air. It was not long before he 
gathered strength again, and started for the middle of the 
river ; but a little harder play coaxed him to change his mind. 
He then began leaping and cavorting, as if he was only in 
fun all the time, and had as lief as not come in out of the wet. 
In a few more turns, the gaffer made a pass at the fish and 
missed him. The fish then showed great vigor, and acted as 
if he would never say die; but after several efforts the gaffer 
brought him up, and he weighed only twelve pounds. 

With perspiration rolling down me and not a little fa- 
tigued, I started back to where I hooked the salmon and com- 
menced casting for another. It was not long before I hooked 
him, and without much make-believe he started down the 
river and I after him. Presently he waited to rest, and then 



Going through a Course of Sprouts. 227 

turned and ran up the river. Then he sulked. Next he leaped 
and dove, swimming rapidly up stream to form a bight in my 
line. But, finding all his tricky efforts useless, he started with 
great speed down the river, and I brought him to gaff half a 
mile below where I had hooked him. He weighed within a 
pound of as much as the first one. 

Again I retraced my steps to the head of the pool, to where 
a long cast would send the fly beyond a submerged rock in 
the centre of the current, below which salmon appeared to 
rest preparatory to ascending a lengthy rapid which carried 
them to the great pool below the falls. Several times I de- 
livered my fly so as to sweep the current and eddy without 
a salmon putting in an appearance. I therefore walked along 
the shore, casting out as far as I could on the rapid stream, 
and every time the fly floated round to the edge of the ecldy 
at the side I took one step down stream and cast again, so as 
to fish over all the ground on my side of the river. I had 
not fished more than a quarter of a mile, when, in response to 
my feathery invitation, a very large silvery fish sparkled in 
the air before me ! I admired him with intense interest ; and, 
after a short contest, he came up persuasively, seeming to 
say, " I'll land without the gaff." Thus he played off and on 
shore, in the air and in the water, until I realized a new sen- 
sation, and began to regard him as a charming pet. I saw 
that he was a very large fresh-run salmon, and much more 
tractable than either of the two which came to gaff. Pres- 
ently he slackened speed, and even stopped to rub his nose 
against a rock, and perhaps try to spring the hook .out; but 
these were merely casual experiments to Avhet his ingenuity, 
while on his way back to the sea, to rid himself of hooks and 
stake-nets. By-and-by, after he had led me about half a mile, 
sometimes fast and at other times slow, as suited his fancy, 
making me appear very like, though less artistic, perhaps, 
than Pat with a shillelah in one hand, his hat placed akimbo, 
and with his other hand holding a rope fastened to a pig's 
leg, the pig too large for Pat to control. About that time I 



228 Fishing in American Waters. 

did not think of black flies, nor rocks and sore shins. My 
friend sometimes generously came near shore, and once I 
thought I saw him throw his tail up, as a sure sign of grow- 
ing weakness, but it was all sham. He was only studying 
my tackle, and his means of escape by parting it. He was 
up near the gaff several times, and eyed the instrument crit- 
ically, but with a whirl of astonishment akin to anger and 
disdain, as if in this ao-e of ne«;ro suffrage a man so cruel 
could be found as to fight salmon with so unequal and hide- 
ous a weapon. But he curled on the water, and while he 
touched his nose with the end of his tail, he looked askance 
for an instant ; then he made a prodigious leap down stream, 
and plunged some ten feet under water and came tip five 
rods above, thus forming a bight in the line, by which he ex- 
pected to gain slack and extricate himself But it was all no 
go. I thought he Avas mine, and preserved great care lest he 
should unhook while bringing him to the gaff. He came for- 
ward as willing as a pet lamb until within three rods of shore ; 
he then made a turn, and with dips, dives, leaps, and other 
devices, liberated himself, and took my fly-hook with him. I 
felt wilted ; worse, I was outgeneraled ; worse still, I was 
vanquished. I once more mechanically walked nearly a mile 
to the foot of the rapid, but I could not cast with hope and 
confidence, and, as the sun was about setting and the musqui- 
toes began their carnival, I repaired to the tent and to sup- 
per, used up, though partially successful. 

Thus ended my first afternoon's angling for salmon in 
Lower Canada. 

SECTION FIFTH. 
tenting in the wilderness. 
Our guides had pitched our tents, and carpeted them with 
fir -boughs which they clipped from the shrubbery back- 
ground of the plateau. My bed consisted of two breadths 
six and a half feet long of canvas, closed by a seam length- 
wise up the centre, and hemmed six inches wide at each side 



A REFRESHING LlJXUKY. 229 

for inserting poles. A log at each end a foot in diameter 
served to fasten the poles to, thus forming a canvas bed 6-|- 
feet long, 3 feet wide, and a foot above the carpet or ground 
of the tent. If preferred, the foot-log need not be so large as 
the head one ; only have regard to stretching your bed high 
enough to admit the circulation of air under it. The follow- 
ing sketch may help illustrate. 




Cajip Bed. 

The guides had also cut the poles and inserted them in the. 
hems of the canvas, which I bought and brought with me 
from Quebec, and with stretchers across the ends of the can- 
vas, they had fastened my bed to the head and foot logs, 
made my bed, and had built a smudge fire in front of my 
tent. Oh, how refreshing the aroma of a tent carpeted with 
fir-boughs ! no one, without experience, can properly appre- 
ciate the luxury. 

After a social supper, we convened in a circle around the 
smudge fire before my tent to discuss the mighty salmon, 
and to inform the ladies of the changes in the fashions up to 
the day we left, being a week after their departure. Of 
course the changes had been considerable, and the gentle- 
men's forty-eight hours' advance in studying the peculiarities 
of the salmon there had entitled them to the honors of Men- 
torship. So, after summing up and being summed up, and 
the tent smoked out with a smudge fire on a piece of birch 
bark, I laid my rubber blanket on the bed, and was soon 
dreaming that I had captured the beautiful salmon that I 
had played so long, and was being serenaded by all the oth- 
er milt salmon for ridding them of the dandy of the river. 
Being vociferously called on for a speech, it so shocked my 
nerves that I awoke, and the light peering in through the in- 
terstices of my tent, I forthwith arose for the morninsr. 



230 Fishing in American Waters. 

' ' The little landscape round 
Was green and woody, and refreshed the eye ; 
It was a spot which you might aptly call 
The Valley of Seclusion." 

Bright and beautiful was the weather, and the two birds 
which charm the mornings of that wilderness wild were pip- 
ing their mellifluous notes, while the only responses heard 
were the snores of our guides in a one-sided bark shanty, 
where they lay on fir-boughs, toasting their feet before a 
smudge fire. As it appeared to be about seven o'clock, I was 
surprised to see not a soul moving. I walked a few rods to 
the river, where I watched admiringly the salmon's leap, but 
looked in vain for a seal. After having been up nearly an 
hour, and perceiving that friends and guides were still asleep, 
I concluded to call up the gaffers and cuisinier, or cook. As 
our cook was perfectly innocent of any language but a Ka- 
nuck patois, by which tongue potatoes or pommes cle terre 
are known as potack, of course I found it difficult to make 
him understand either English or French, and that is an un- 
pardonable fault in a cook. 

Well, as they lay snoring, and not one awake, I thought I 
would see what time it was before arousing them ; and on 
consulting my watch, I learned that it was precisely half past 
three o'clock ! Well, said I, sotto voce, this is a strange coun- 
try, and, lest I should disturb my lodging comrades, I re- 
clined outside the tent, and tried to take another nap ; but 
the black flies had also awoke, and began paying their dis- 
tresses to me, much to the sacrifice of an amount of beauty 
too scant to lose any without an exposure of its want. I re- 
monstrated at the presentation of bills at such an unseason- 
able hour, but they only shouted the louder, and called to- 
gether so great a number as to oblige me to decamp. I 
therefore resorted to Rattling Run to take a bath. While 
bathing it was all very well, but between undressing and 
dressing they took me at a disadvantage, and by both mus- 
quitoes and black flies I was decidedly worsted. On my re- 



Yielding to Circumstances. 231 

turn to the tents there were no signs of life but an occasional 
snore, the noises of hares, porcupines, and squirrels in the 
grove hard by, and the two songsters singing so merrily as 
to drown the music of the musquitoes. On examining my 
watch I learned that it was five o'clock. I therefore deter- 
mined on arousing the cook and the gaffers. They arose 
with reluctance, rubbed their eyes, washed their faces and 
hands in the river, and that was all the toilet-making needed, 
for they had slept with their boots and shoes on as protec- 
tion against flies. John, the captain of the gang, because of 
his superior Milesian intelligence, who could speak equally 
well bad English and villainous French, informed me that it 
never had been the custom under Dr. Bluff, of the First Fusi- 
leers, or any gentleman who had previously fished that river, 
to rise before seven, or to commence fishing before nine. 
Well, then, I replied, we Yankees will teach you a new lesson. 
But, upon ascertaining that my friends were ojmosed to ris- 
ing early, or fishing before breakfast, I yielded ; and thence- 
forward the cook and guides suited their own comfort about 
rising, and we did not get started for angling until the sun 
had scorched the toes and dried the whistles of the musqui- 
toes. 

But it seemed that the noise caused from mustering the 
men had awakened the doctor, who crawled out of his tent 
with modest care for fear of arousing the other two inmates, 
when he mildly saluted me Avith " Good morning ; how came 
your eye out ?" I replied that my eyes were good enough 
to perceive that three or four bites from black flies had 
changed his phiz into a picture of a Chinese monstrosity. 
"You don't say so!" he ejaculated. "Where?" I pointed 
to one of his eyes, his bare caput, his face, etc. On examin- 
ing them, he forthwith applied ammonia to the bites, and 
bathed mine also with it. 

Smudge fires were at once made before our tents and ex- 
temporized breakfast-place. Our cuisinier was soon engaged 
at frying pork and Bermuda onions, broiling salmon, making 



232 Fishing in American Waters. 

tea, etc., etc. As we had not tasted potatoes in a week, we 
began to long for them. Our table was set, and breakfast 
about ready, when the general and the banker made their 
appearance with their ladies, and, after mutual salutations, 
we all seated ourselves for breakfast. Our plates and dishes 
were composed of cast-iron outside and porcelain inside ; and, 
though nearly as beautiful as sets and dishes of figured china, 
they were as durable as iron, and just the kind that should 
be adopted for kitchen use in the metropolis. By each plate 
a stone about the size of a goose-egg was placed, to use in 
cracking our sea-biscuit. Good sea-biscuit is much better 
than common bread in the wilderness, and when cracked up 
and crumbled into a bowl of tea, or, by being first dipped into 
cold water to soften it, is afterward fried in the fat of the 
pan after pork and eggs, is excellent, especially in the absence 
of potatoes. 

I was almost shocked on perceiving that the right eye of 
the banker's lady was closed, and a large lump on her left 
temple, almost spoiling her beauty ; but I did not allude to 
it until she mentioned that the flies had somewhat disfig- 
ured me, when I asked her how she had rested. She replied, 
" Very well ; but this morning, while bathing my face, I found 
that I had a large lump on the left side of it, and my right 
eye felt fatty. I called to my husband, and asked him what 
it was. He replied by asking me to shut my left eye and 
look at him with my right one, and when I obeyed he said 
he was surprised, for my right eye appeared to be entirely 
closed. Neither my eye nor my face pain me at all, but the 
general's lady has applied ammonia to the bites, and I expect 
nothing more serious from them. Hereafter I shall wear my 
head-net night and day, and my Esquimaux boots." I com- 
plimented her philosophy, and imitated her example by wear- 
ing boots every night for a month, though fishing in shoes 
and wet trowsers, and, on returning to the tent twice a day, 
doffing my wet clothes, and rubbing down with a crash tow- 
el, and substituting dry clothes and boots until ready to start 



New Course of Training. 233 

for the river again, when I would doff the dry clothes and re- 
place them by wet wading ones and shoes, with thick woolen 
half hose — sometimes two pairs — in a very large pair of shoes. 
Wide-soled pegged bottoms are the best. This changing of 
dresses was our daily modus operandi ; and I waded, bathed, 
changed dress, whipped, played salmon, and was bitten by 
flies until I reduced my weight more than twenty pounds. 
I therefore suggest salmon-angling as the best training that 
a person can indulge in whose adiposity preponderates. This 
system has the advantage of " Banting on Corpulence," be- 
cause, while it reduces the amount of fat or adipose matter, 
it hardens the muscles, and thus improves the wind and phys- 
ical power of a man. If a person desires training so as to 
endure great fatigue, and render him more active and supple, 
I advise him to forthwith apply for a salmon-river ; and, aft- 
er having secured a lease of it for the usual term of nine 
years, to send a good, trusty man there next April, and let 
him employ a couple of Canadian half-breeds, buy a couple 
of bark canoes, to be had for fifteen dollars each, and let your 
man build a couple of log huts at the foot of each of the prin- 
cipal rapids or falls, and let him cover them well with birch 
bark, and line them throughout with the bark, so as to keep 
out the flies. A chimney is quite unnecessary, as a smudge 
fire in the middle of the cabin will keep the flies away, if 
musquito-netting covers each window or aperture left to ad- 
mit light. Then I should advise visiting the river as early 
as the 15th of June, and angling until the end of July. This 
plan will insure a month of good fishing, and no trouble 
from the effects of flies worth naming. In' fact, it will un- 
bend the mind, invigorate the body, and renew your lease 
of life. 

Of biting flies, the following, written by the Bishop of 
Quebec while on a journey up the Red River, in his " Songs 
of the Wilderness," is truthfully expressive : 



23-i Fishing in American Waters. 

• 

"Among the plagues on earth which God has sent, 

Of lighter torment is the plague of flies : 
Not as of Egypt once the punishment, 

Yet such sometimes as feeble patience tries. 
Where mid America in vastness lies, 

There diverse hordes the swamps and woods infect. 
Banded or singly, these make man their prize ; 

Quick by their subtle dart is blood expressed 
Or tumor raised. By tiny foe distressed, 

Travelers in forest rude with veil are fain 
To ami the face ; men there whose dwellings rest 

Crouch in thick smoke ; like help their cattle gain. * 
Oh wise in trials great, in troubles small, 

Who know to find mementoes of the rail." 

a morning's experience. 

Our two solitary " birdies" were piping the peculiar notes 
of the Northern wilderness, the salmon were leaping and 
splashing, and I longed to tackle the mate of the silver beau- 
ty lost the evening previous. 

Having already soaked my casting-line, I shouldered my 
heavy and lengthy friend, the Castle Connell rod, and march- 
ed up the river about a hundred rods to where a bend in the 
shore threw the current out around the eddy rock. I select- 
ed a medium - sized fly with purple body, blue legs, brown 
mallard wings, and golden pheasant top -knot for the tail. 
Then I commenced casting out toward the middle of the riv- 
er, and letting the fly float down and around to near the 
shore. About my third cast brought a bite and a leap that 
made my heart palpitate with anxiety. I played him about 
half an hour, he once and a while running off about two hun- 
dred feet of line, and then coming back as tame and cosy as 
possible, until by-and-by his patience became exhausted, and 
he thought he would start up the river a hundred miles or so 
to the spawning-beds. He navigated the rapid about twen- 

* It is asserted as a truth by border settlers that, when burning off a sum- 
mer fallow, and the smoke no longer protects cattle in contiguous pastures, 
that they run lowing to the house to have the fire renewed ; and it is some-* 
times necessary that they shall stand in dense smoke to enable them to re- 
main still long enough to be milked. 



Get fairly Vanquished. 235 

ty rods above, but I turned him, when he went down stream 
much faster than it was convenient for me to follow ; but he 
stopped to rest where I hooked him, and glad enough was I, 
for the morning was oppressively warm, and my rest had not 
been of the most refreshing kind during the previous night. 
Here I began to call loudly for a gaifer, and presently I saw 
the doctor's demijohn form approaching with a gaff, and 
closely following was the general. By the time they arrived 
my friend had concluded to return to sea, and started ; but 
he soon found a resting-place, and, while playing him here, 
the general insisted so strongly against playing him too gen- 
tly that I put a little more stress on the line. The fish rol- 
licked around the pool, and showed his whole size and beau- 
ty, when my friends judged that he would weigh over thirty 
pounds. I thought so too, and played with great care. But 
the salmon became impatient of restraint, and started. He 
had not darted more than a hundred feet before the hook 
sprang back to me, and he went on his way rejoicing, while 
my friends returned to the tents. 

I felt as if I needed a strong glass of lemonade with a stick 
in it to sustain me ; but, being strictly temperate — that morn- 
ing — I sauntered back to the point above the eddy where I 
had hooked my recently-departed friend. There I examined 
the fly and hook with care, and found it secundum artem. 
After becoming sufficiently rested, I made a cast, and at once 
hooked another salmon about the same size as the one which 
had just unhooked. On realizing that my fish was on, with 
a slight jerk I fastened the hook, in order to play him ginger- 
ly if he wanted to " gallivant and cavort" some. Two or three 
times he revealed his enormous size and great symmetry, so 
that I felt quite sure I had hooked the mate of the first one. 
This also remained half an hour trying small tricks about the 
pool, when all at once he dashed away across the current, 
and, on rising to the surface, I distinctly saw the line wound 
three times round him. After this he plunged and leaped 
up, down, and across the river, until he liberated himself, and 



236 Fishing in American Waters. 

took my fly. AVell, thought I, salmon of such great size, in 
so large and rapid a river, should be fished for with leaders 
or casting-lines of double gut all the way. I will return to 
tent, and try to rig gut leaders to hold them. 

The situation of our menage began to look inviting ; and 
with the birch bark gathered by our gaffers, and the illus- 
trated papers and magazines, our log cabin and dining-room 
were cheerfully ornamented by the ladies, and the menu of 
our dinner would not have dishonored a metropolitan hotel. 
The gaffers' shanty was finished, and the cuisine attractively 
arranged in order. After dinner, numerous sentiments wor- 
thy of the day we were commemorating — it being the glori- 
ous Fourth of July — were given, and we made the welkin 
ring with shouts and music. 

The evening was spent in tying flies, and concluded by ex- 
amining the lunar bow through the smoke of a camp-fire and 
the bottoms of our punch-glasses until the near approach of 
midnight, when we retired to fight again the battles of the 
day in our dreams, and to mingle in them the faces of be- 
loved ones far awa. 

SECTION SIXT&. 
history and rumination. 
Neither the Greeks nor Romans knew any thing about an- 
gling for salmon. The Saxons knew not the real luxury of 
angling. A thorough appreciation of angling can only be 
known by man civilized. " Catch who catch can" is the 
motto by which savages are guided, and the surest means of 
killing game is to them the best. Savages kill solely to eat. 
They know no better, and lack the genius of the civilized 
poacher to invent stake and concealed nets. Civilization en- 
ables the true sportsman to adopt suitable means to secure 
sport, and as civilized men enjoy a more prosperous condition 
than savages, they are not so dependent on the fish or game 
they take or kill. Hence the sportsmen of the civilized world 
can afford to give the animal pursued some fair-play " law," 



Saw the Nokth Pole. 237 

supposing the nature of the prey entitled to it. But, in the 
opinion of an uncivilized people, to allow a quarry or a shoal 
the smallest chance of escape would he considered great folly. 
To the ignorance and cruelty of the poacher may he attribu- 
ted the reason for the robbing of salmon-rivers of their life 
and beauty. Existence could not have been so enjoyable to 
the angler in either the palmy days of Greece or Rome, or 
during any era since, while robbing the rivers of salmon was 
pursued, as it is in our day, when science revives sport and 
invents generous means for its perpetuity. 

Les travaux sur les Poissons se sont singulierment multi- 
plies durant la periode qui s'etend de Vepoque de la mort de 
Cuvier au moment actuel. 

Having flown in my cogitations from Greece to Rome, and 
from thence to the British Isles and part way back to France, 
where I endeavored to think in French, and as if in danger 
of being overcome by a fresh swarm of musquitoes, I supposed 
myself aroused by their singing, when, to my surprise, on 
looking up, it was the doctor at the door of my tent, insist- 
ing in stentorian tones that I should get up. I asked him 
the time of night, and he replied that it was beautiful. 

There is no use to contend with a doctor, and so I arose, 
when, before my tent door, he was complacently seated on a 
bench, with a smudge fire and the boiling tea-kettle on one 
side, a bowl of loaf-sugar on the other, and a bottle of old 
Jamaica before him. Being already dressed, for I slept with 
my overcoat, body-coat, and boots on, between army blank- 
ets on an India-rubber one, and yet was generally cold to- 
ward morning, I concluded to join the doctor and learn what 
new system of philosophy or astronomy he was prepared to 
propound. With looks of amazement, he pointed to the bril- 
liant aurora borealis in darts shooting up through the lu- 
nar bow like streams of gold and fire through a rainbow ! 
"We viewed it with unstinted admiration until he composed 
a hot rum punch. We then examined the aicrora borealis 
and lunar bow through the bottoms of our glasses, and the 



238 Fishing est American Waters. 

sight was really gorgeous ! After three or four similar rep? 
ejrtions, we agreed that we saw the North Pole distinctly, 
Beading Sir John Franklin's grave, and the bow, spears, and 
'stars of the aurora borealis were merely the flag over Frank- 
lin's tomb. 

While the doctor was evolving a new theory of mundane 
matters, only to be understood by draining a dose of diffusi- 
bility, John appeared. He was greatly excited, but breath- 
less. So soon as he recovered power of utterance he said, 
" Gintlemen, bedad there's a bear just foment yees ! I see'd 
him." 

" Well, John," we replied, " how did he look ?" 

"Bedad he was as big as an elephant, and had a tail as 
long as meself, and as big around, be gorrah !" 

" How long w r as he ?" we inquired. 

" Bedad he was as long as I can reach with my two arms." 

" What color was he ?" 

"Be gorrah, to tell the thruth,I couldn't see his color pre- 
cisely." 

" Was he green ?" 

" No, yer honors, not perzac. tly. I should say he was more 
brownish." 

"We supposed so, John; it is a fox." 

" No, no, yer honors ! Dr. Bluff, of the First Fusileers, said 
he'd often see'd bears here, an' I think the beast I seed is 
won." 

" This was at the shoot, twenty-seven miles farther up the 
river," we replied; and just then the halo of the rising sun 
began to illuminate the eastern horizon, and teach us to pre- 
pare for the fresh-run salmon which had arrived that morning 
from their visit to the sea. Having consulted our watches, 
and learned, to our surprise, that it was only three o'clock, 
and as our gaffers were still asleep, we reluctantly retired to 
our tents and to sleep until called to breakfast. 

As it was our custom to rest the salmon-pools during the 
best part of the day for angling, in order to protect the river 



Racing along the Rivek. 239 

from too great a depletion by our captivating flies, we start- 
eel to fish our several pools at the time of the forenoon when 
the salmon seeks the shady side of a rock in the river, and 
which had perceptibly fallen during the previous night, so 
that, from its clearness, we could distinctly see numerous sal- 
mon lying in pairs beside the rocks. They were very inter- 
esting to look at, but it was hard to induce a rise. Presently 
the general, who had been angling at the falls a mile above, 
was seen approaching, and doing some pretty tall walking, 
now in the river and then on the shore, following a salmon 
as best he could, for the fish seemed determined to return, to 
sea. Down they came, passing us, while the perspiration 
streamed from the general's face, and he was too busy to re- 
turn our salutations, but he finally brought the fish to gaff. 

In a short time thereafter the doctor was seen coming at 
the speed of two-forty on his rejoicing way down the river 
from the falls, led by a large salmon. We soon saw that the 
salmon was playing the doctor, who, finding that he was los- 
ing strength, called lustily for help, which was instantly ren- 
dered, and a twenty-four pound salmon was soon played out 
and landed. The doctor retired to his tent and was not seen 
again until the next morning, when he said, " It's heavenly to 
play a generous salmon, but when he turns the tables and 
plays you, he's worse than the cholera !" 

It was the banker's turn next, and, thoroughly aroused and 
divested of his dignity, down he came, skipping over rocks 
and through brush at a very rapid rate. Down he came to 
Rattling Run, and brought his fifth salmon to gaff that day, 
the largest twenty, and the smallest eleven pounds. 

The doctor's serious intent at evoking a reliable theory 
for the brilliant coruscations near the northern horizon pre- 
vented him from risking the play of another salmon until he 
should quite recover from his last encounter. In the mean 
time, every fresh contest with a salmon increased my respect 
for the fish ; and I lost so many in proportion to the great 
number hooked, that I began, when my fly was first taken, 



240 Fishing in American Waters. 

to realize an indescribable sensation of nervous hesitancy ; 
and the more gentle he appeared when first hooked, the more 
I dreaded the fight that I knew must come, sooner or later ; 
for a salmon never surrenders until he faints. As the waters 
settled until as transparent as ether, the fish became not only 
more shy, but they gave better play and were harder to ex- 
haust. They bit gingerly and short. I had ample opportu- 
nity for testing some theories which had been told me by an- 
glers with great seriousness. One of them is, that " if a sal- 
mon rises to your fly and misses it, you should not cast again 
immediately, because he is sure to settle back before rising. 
You had better, therefore, light a segar and smoke half of it, 
or take a glass of sherry, and rest the pool at least fifteen 
minutes before repeating the cast." This I ascertained to be 
all bosh. Once, in particular, a salmon took my fly at the 
fourth cast, though having rose to it at every previous one 
and missed it, while I repeated my casts with as little sus- 
pense as if angling for brook trout. A salmon will return to 
the fly, if he rose to it in earnest at first, as often as will a 
trout ; but either fish, when pricked by a fly-hook, will refuse 
to come again until he forgets it. Again it is said that " if 
you hook a salmon and he parts your tackle, taking your 
hook and a piece of the gut snell to which it was attached, 
he will not rise to an artificial fly again that season." This 
is also a mistake ; for the gentleman who owns the " York 
River," Gaspe, fished with a friend who* lost a hook and part 
of a leader by a salmon one morning last July, and on the 
evening of that day took the salmon with the hook and gut 
still in his mouth ; and what appears most singular is that 
he hooked the salmon with the same kind of fly that was 
then fastened to the jaw of the fish. 




Hot Days and Cold Nights. 241 

SECTION SEVENTH. 

JOLLY SPORT ON RATTLING RUN. 

" Oh ! not in camp or court 
Our best delights we find, 
But in some loved resort 

With water, wood, and wind ; 
Where nature works, 
And beauty lurks, 
In all her craft enshrined. " 

The clays were divided into four hours of night, made scin- 
tillant by the aurora borealis, and the lunar bow more bril- 
liant than daylight, but cool and hushed, so that no sounds 
remained but the rushing waters, the splashing of the royal 
salmon, and the piteous cries of seals; three hours of morn- 
ing, mild and serene, enlivened by the wild music of the birds 
of the wilderness and the occasional sounds of animals forag- 
ing for breakfast in the mountain forests by which we were 
surrounded ; fourteen hours of a day, when clear, ranging in 
the sun from eighty to ninety degrees Fahrenheit ; and three 
hours of mild twilight, with light enough to read. 

The morning was clear and still; not a zephyr swept 
through the gorge by the falls, or came up laden with the 
fragrance of codfish from the Gulf. The shrill music of our 
two charming birds and an occasional splash of feeding sal- 
mon were the only sounds which relieved the monotone of the 
clear and rapid river. Our plateau, surrounded by majestic 
mountains, steep and rocky, formed a vast amphitheatre. 
The river was still falling, and as thin and clear as possible. 
Our assembling at breakfast proved that the black flies had 
partially desisted from scoring us, and each member of the 
party felt relieved of farther danger from that scourge. It 
is worthy of remark, that from the almost unbearable annoy- 
ance caused by the punishment from black flies on our ar- 
rival, we had in one short week become so accustomed to 
them that they ceased to elicit our fear or attention. 

The morning time to angle for salmon having expired, we 





242 Fishing in American Waters. 

regarded the river as having been protected, and the pools 
rested long enough, and so mounted our toggery and ar- 
ranged our flies for the fray. It was the doctor's turn for 
the upper pool, at the foot of the falls ; the general's for the 
bend to Rattling Run ; the bankei''s included all the opposite 
of the river, while my sporting-water was Rattling Run, and 
I had never fished it. My gaffer was wanted elsewhere, and 
the doctor most generously consented to supply his place. 
He led the way with gaff on shoulder, marching up to the 
first pool with an elan and energy which meant that he was 
determined to show me where salmon disported. After walk- 
ing half a mile through the brush, we emerged opposite a sal- 
mon-pool on Rattling Run. The run was about twenty rods 
wide, with shallow water three quarters of the distance to 
the opposite bank. The doctor pointed to the pool on the 
opposite shore, and told me that a salmon made a feint at his 
fly there two clays previously. The water ran swift over a 
pebbly bed, but it was not much above knee-deep on our side 
of the pool. I waded to within casting distance of the head 
of the pool, and commenced casting while moving slowly 
down the stream, until, having made half a dozen casts, and 
swept the surface with great care, I delivered my fly just 
above a rock near the foot of the pool, where a salmon made 
its appearance and rose to take the fly, but missed it. The 
next cast delivered the fly beyond and below the rock, in the 
white-water foam, when the salmon accepted the fly, and fast- 
ened good and strong. Instead of turning to the falls just 
below, he shot up to within a few paces of me. The doctor, 
seeing his move, ran below the salmon to prevent it from 
dashing down the chute. For a full half hour while the play 
lasted, it was so amusing to see the doctor run and flourish 
the gaff in his endeavor to drive the salmon to the pool 
above that I could hardly restrain my laughter enough to 
stand and steady the fish's head occasionally against the cur- 
rent. But the doctor finally conquered, and the fish became 
so fatigued that the doctor took him out of the wet with his 



Sharp Contest with a Salmon. 243 

gaff, when it scaled twelve pounds ; and, though not large, it 
is something to play and save a twelve-pound salmon with a 
single gut in a swift and shallow rapid just above a chute. 

"We now proceeded to the second pool above, where the 
doctor seated himself to rest on shore and watch my move- 
ments. Here also the run was about twenty rods wide, with 
the channel along the bank opposite. I therefore waded out 
so as to cast across the main current, and let my fly sweep 
round to the eddy, some eighty feet below. I had not made 
many casts before a salmon deliberately swam up to my fly 
and examined it, and then, as if suspicious, turned from it 
like electricity, his turn forming a most exciting whirl. In 
vain I cast several times more, but the run was too wide to 
deliver my fly at the farther shore, where was a deep pool 
from which I might have enticed him. But we gave up the 
chase and commenced a return, the doctor walking along 
the shore, and I wading and casting as I went. We had not 
gone far when I hooked a very elegant salmon. There was 
a pool on each side of the run, and the salmon took the fly 
on the farther side. As soon as the fish realized that he was 
firmly hooked, he came across the . run for the pool near us. 
I stood in the water nearly between the two pools, but rath- 
er above them. As the run was very rapid all the way be- 
low until it entered the St. John, I requested the doctor to 
fall below the salmon, and thus prevent the fish from run- 
ning the chute. The doctor Avaded below the pool on the 
left, and as he saw the salmon darting for that pool, he ran 
below, to prevent the fish from turning down stream after it 
should learn that it was mistaken in finding protection where 
it was going to seek it. The salmon came to the near pool, 
and, finding no assistance, it endeavored to sulk a little, but 
finally resolved to run the chute, or return to the pool at the 
farther shore. 

After a close contest of an hour's duration, in which the 
salmon passed twice between the doctor's legs, the fish was 
brought to gaff, and weighed fifteen pounds. On returning 



244 Fishing in American Waters. 

to dinner, we learned that onr friends had fished hard for 
modest results. By the supervisory care of the ladies, the 
dinner was served in the following order or menu : 

Vegetable sonp. 

Boiled salmon and fried trout. 

Roast mutton, green peas, and other vegetables. 

Claret wine, tea, bread and batter, etc., concluding with a 
dessert of marmalade and dried fruits. 

After dinner we concluded to rest the pools, burn some to- 
bacco, and tie some flies. When we first began angling, the 
preference by the salmon seemed to be given to the Montreal 
fiy, or a purple body, brown mallard wings, and tail from the 
top-knot of the golden pheasant ; but within the last two 
days they would not touch it. Their next favorite was a 
good imitation of the real salmon fly, body and wings light 
gray ; but after a couple of days more they refused all flies 
but those with a preponderance of bright yellow and orange, 
tied on a very small hook. The double-hook flies were the 
most successful in bringing salmon to gaff, but I never tried 
them; and it is contended by some that two small hooks fall 
better, and are more attractive than a single one. Forrest, 
of Kelso, is the favorite fly-maker with Canadian anglers, and 
he generally ties on a double hook. 

SECTION EIGHTH. 
FLY-FISHING below the falls. 

"Below the Falls of St. John, from deep crevice stealing, 
The bright salmon watches his prey, 
And when 'mid the white foam some stray fly lies wheeling, 
Slyly bears — slyly bears it away. 

"'Tis thus in this bright world, at joys without measure, 
Unheeding, we ardently spring, 
And forget that oft hid by the plumage of pleasure 

Lies a hook — lies a hook in the wing." — Stoddart. 

To a man unaccustomed to the broad, rushing, tumbling 
torrents which debouch in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from the 
north, there are many subjects to inspire wonder, and some 



The Angler and his G-affek. 



245 




« ^.-P^ «"-!j=i J . 



few to challenge admiration. The bold mountains of gray 
rock, from which a few stinted fir-trees struggle into the 
light of day above the fissures and dark gorges, are sombre 
to see and sublime to contemplate ; and the rivers, tumbling 
down frantically in their narrow passage between high walls 
of solid masonry, would appear frightful did they not contain 
thousands of beautiful salmon and trout, which make their 
way with great assiduity to clear themselves of sea-lice by 
the action of fresh water, deposit their eggs, and, when warn- 



246 Fishing in American Waters. 

ed by fresh-water parasites, return to sea to recuperate and 
fatten preparatory to another visit up the river to their 
spawning-grounds. 

One day, while fishing the pool below the falls, I felt a 
tug, and as my reel spun round whir ! whir ! ! whir ! ! ! I 
raised my rod to a perpendicular, when — the reel still con- 
tinuing — I saw three leaps at once, each fish leaping fasten- 
ed to my fly. Thought I, " If you make three leaps at once 
there is small chance of saving you," and so it resulted. By 
the manoeuvre, it formed a bight in my line and unhooked. 

My captures were very fair that day, and it is a remarka- 
bly interesting pool to fish ; but the river was so low, and 
its waters so transparent, that I could count scores of salmon 
lying in pairs by the rocks, awaiting a rise in the river to help 
them surmount the chute. 

The next morning I fished the same pool from the opposite 
side of the river, and in response to my second or third cast 
I hooked a large salmon, which ran out to the middle of the 
river and took nearly all the line off my reel, when it made 
a leap about twenty feet up the river, and several feet above 
the water, and the swiftness of the current made such a bight 
in my line that its weight parted the single leader, though I 
dipped the point of the rod as I saw the leap coming. As 
my line came back I felt despondent at losing such a beauti- 
ful fish ; but I venture to state that no angler, under the cir- 
cumstances, could have saved it. Such is salmon-ano-lincv 
You must use a single gut for the half of your casting-line 
toward the end, and tie your fly on a single gut, or you will 
be regarded as a coarse angler, and all your large scores will 
count you naught as an artist at angling. Here are salmon 
in a broad, rapid river, large enough to try the strongest 
striped-bass tackle; and yet they are to be taken on a single 
gut, and played from half an hour to three hours to bring to 
gaff. Add to the delicacy of play necessitated from the light- 
ness of tackle the fact, also, that the mouth of a salmon is very 
tender. These are points to be noted if you would angle for 



Salmon Leaps and Spkay-bows. 247 

salmon. No one ever hears of a string of salmon, for the very 
good reason that their bodies are so heavy and gills so ten- 
der that they will not sustain their weight. 

I put on another fly and cast again. For some time my 
eyes were not blest with the sight of a rise ; but by-arid-by 
a salmon accepted the fly in earnest and fastened. The prick 
of the hook gave it such a shock that it bounded and leaped 
three or four times, as quick as thought, several feet above 
the water. Finding itself still hooked, it came toward me, 
and I retreated, for fear that too acute an angle of the line 
and rod might enable it, by a salmon dash, to break the top 
of my rod. I therefore walked backward, and the salmon fol- 
lowed me until within five feet of the shore. It then turned 
as quick as lightning, and whir ! whir ! whir ! ! went my reel. 
Another leap showed it to be in the middle of the current, 
with but little line remaining on my reel, and a reef of rocks 
rising above the water between me and the salmon. I at 
once saw that it might extricate itself and take my fly and 
some of the line; but it misjudged its own situation, and 
started to leap the falls. By its failure I turned its head 
shoreward, and brought it within a rod of me, when it took 
fright again and started down the river. After checking and 
turning it, back it came to me, gentle as possible, leaping oc- 
casionally, as if it was its nature, for I should have thought a 
fish so circumstanced would have swam low; but no — all 
game fish are alike in that respect. Although the salmon 
had become used to my appearance, it still distrusted me, and 
started out into the current again. There he leaped a few 
times, and finally consented to be led back ; but when it gain- 
ed sight of the gaff it shot off again, though I could both see 
and feel that it was losing strength. After two or three 
more visits to the shore it became weakened, and Duncan 
gaffed it. The fish weighed only sixteen pounds, but it was 
the prettiest salmon that I had ever seen. Above the line, 
from gill to tail, it was a light and brilliant salmon color, and 
below it was like polished silver. I could not help exclaim- 



24:8 Fishing in American Waters. 

ing how beautiful ! There is nothing more beautiful than a 
fresh-run salmon when first taken, neither is there any pen- 
cil capable of creating its apparent counterpart. To feel a 
salmon fast to your fly and see its leap is alone worth a voy- 
age to Canada to experience. 

Again I swept the pool with care and got a rise. As I 
could not allure the beauty to a second attempt, I concluded 
to rest the pool and go to the foot of the plain water, where 
I saw the salmon disporting like dolphins just above the 
rapid. The bed of the river was about a quarter of a mile 
wide, and shallow on my side. I therefore waded out, and 
after a few casts hooked a large, vigorous salmon. After a 
high leap it struck out to the middle of the river. Then it 
made numerous rushes and leaps, with turns and sweeps, un- 
til finally the hook sprang back to me, and let the twenty- 
pounder go on its way rejoicing. Very soon I hooked an- 
other, and it attempted to run the rapid ; but I checked it a 
quarter of a mile below, where it stopped to sulk behind a 
rock, and before it formed another plan, my man Duncan 
watched his chance and gaffed it. 

Again, after half an hour's playing, I succeeded in losing a 
very large fresh-run salmon. I felt mortified, and so con- 
cluded on returning to the head of the stretch to learn the 
intentions of the large fish which had offered before I left, 
and for which I rested the pool. I went to the head of the 
pool and swept it along down until I came to where I got the 
rise before I left ; but it had either leaped the chute or gone 
from home, and after a feAV rises but no strikes, I returned to 
dinner. " Moving large fish, however, is held by every true 
angler only second to hooking them; but many persons are 
apt to despise the most skillful and patient 'efforts unless 
crowned with immediate success." This is the experience 
of John Colquhoun and every true angler. 

Next morning, by dint of perseverance and continued ef- 
fort, I finally hooked a salmon at the foot of the pool, and just 
at that moment a loud cracklino- was heard in the thick un- 



Day-dreams and exciting Sport. 2-A9 

derwood along the shore, and Duncan called my attention to 
a bear that, having discovered us, was making off with all the 
speed possible. I could not turn to look from my salmon, for 
it had not yet decided upon what course of tactics to pursue. 
After a few minutes, when the salmon had concluded to run 
the hook out, I turned to see, but the bear was no longer in 
sight. After several runs, tacks, shifts, sweeps, and leaps, I 
brought the salmon home as gentle as a kitten, so that it 
seemed a pity to gaff it. 

My friends had been fully as lucky as I had, and, as the 
flies were disappearing, and we had examined our plateau, 
walled by mountains and watered by beautiful rivers, we 
concluded to digest a good dinner by admiring the works of 
nature and enjoying the aurora borealis and lunar bow. 

Rosy were our dreams ; but, be it remembered, one of the 
party began to sigh for Susan Jane. 

The following day, and for several days thereafter, the 
sport was about the same. The river soon began to shrink 
and clarify, and as the salmon became more scarce, the num- 
bers of sea trout increased. Sea trout are precisely like those 
of Long Island. Their voyage to sea renders them as white 
and plump as are those of the Willows, below Oba. Snedicor's, 
and perhaps cleaner and whiter ; but they are the same fish 
in ichthyological peculiarity. 

The next day that I fished Rattling Run I took two salmon 
at its mouth, where the eddy was formed by the confluence 
with the St. John ; and I cast again to the foot of the rapid, 
where my fly was usually drawn into the eddy, and before 
it fairly touched the water a salmon took it, and leaped some 
ten feet up stream, dropping it while thus leaping. As I saw 
the fly fall, I was in the act of retrieving my line, when an- 
other salmon was fast to the fly, and I broke the top of my 
rod. This proved to me that the movement of a salmon is 
too swift to be followed by the eye. I played and killed the 
salmon after the rod was broken, and my gaffer landed him. 

Before I could splice another top to my Martin Kelly (a 



250 Fishing in American Waters. 

great improvement on the Castle Connell rod) the shoal had 
either passed by, or otherwise had concluded to decline my 
flies, and I was obliged to forego the amusement of again 
playing a salmon that day. 

As there appeared no prospect for the river rising soon, we 
began to think seriously of dividing the party, and two of us 
taking gaffers and canoes, and going to the upper falls, twen- 
ty-seven miles above. The next mol-ning, however, was show- 
ery, and the river had risen more than a foot during the night ; 
we therefore concluded to defer going up the river until the 
prospective rain should have subsided. The fitful showers 
of the morning increased to a steady and heavy rain in the 
afternoon, and both the general and banker met with fine 
sport, taking several salmon of fine size. This day the gen- 
eral evinced a commendable perseverance, for, in the heaviest 
shower, if a salmon parted his line and carried away his fly, 
he would forthwith stop where he was, and tie a fly in a 
drenching rain, attach it to his leader, and proceed to casting. 
He lost several large fish that day, and saved only three ; 
one of these he hooked in the pectoral fin of the left side of 
the fish, on the opposite side from the general, as the fish 
started down stream, leading the general at double-quick 
time. I was sweeping the pool at the mouth of Rattling 
Run when I saw the general hastening down the St. John, 
along the shore. The rain was drenching. He wore rubber 
overalls, overcoat, and hat ; the brim of his hat turned under 
across the forehead, giving him the air of enthusiasm so fine- 
ly represented in the picture of Napoleon when he commenced 
crossing the Alps. Of course there was the slight difference 
of our general being on foot ; but, with his rod stretching 
high in air, the storm catching his loose garment, the hat 
with brim turned under and giving it the military chapeau 
shape, the tout ensemble was all energy and action. Down 
swept the general. Rattling Run had swollen considerably, 
and was three feet deep and very rapid just above the mouth, 
into which the general dashed and waded across, holding on 



Very Tall Walking. 251 

to his fish, which he thought a forty-pounder at least ! His 
gaffer followed close behind, and was about to embark the 
general in a canoe to follow the salmon down the river; but 
the fish stopped in the pool where I was angling, and after a 
play of less than half an hour the general brought it to gaff, 
when it weighed 1 7-^ lbs. This feat was the greatest of the 
season ; and, had not the fish been hooked on the far side from 
the general, so that it was hard to maintain an equipoise, it 
would probably have torn away. I shall never forget the 
picture of ardor and energy which rushed down along the 
shore and dashed across Rattling Run, speechless with won- 
der and excitement. At dinner we canvassed the morning's 
sport, and, though the rain dripped slightly through the bark 
roof of our dining arbor, we began to realize that a home in 
the wilderness possesses an indescribable attraction, and the 
apparently settled rain seemed an omen for better fishing 
than we had yet enjoyed, and we parted that night to our 
several camps with a renewed stock of hope and pleasing an- 
ticipation. 

SECTION NINTH. 

THOUGHTS OF RETURNING HOMEWARD. 

" 'Tis a midnight fair to see, 

Wondrous in sublimity. 

Lingering at our cabin door, 

Fast beside the river shore, 

Dazzled is my gazing eye 

With the grandeur of the sky. 

Clouds are flying in mad chase 

O'er the moon's benignant face ; 

In the blue concave of air 

Stars like diamonds gleam and glare, 

While with weird, celestial glow 

Springs aloft the lunar bow. 

See ! like arch triumphal, high 
• How it soareth to the sky ; 

See ! like heavenly rainbow, bent 

O'er a showery firmament, 

How its gorgeous columns climb 

With a majesty sublime." — Isaac M'Lellast 



252 Fishing in American Watees. 

Our dreams of home were rosy. Though unlooked-for, 
modest flushes of the great St. John, produced by summer 
showers at its tributaries, caused temporary hope, yet the , 
stream kept gradually narrowing and falling so fist that sal- 
mon refused to ascend to the fluvial part of the river. About 
the 20th of July the grilse began to make their appearance, 
and the parr rose to the fly in the most plucky manner, 
evincing more courage than their grandparents. 

"At length the morning for our departure has arrived," 
said one of our party while returning from enjoying his last 
bath of the season in Rattliug Run. Instead of learning from 
the 

"Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones," 

we were about to exchange the scenes of nature, unadorned 
by art, for the crowded mart, and the hurry-scurry of aggre- 
gated humanity. The thoughts which made bearable the re- 
flections called forth by preparing to leave our home of free- 
dom, and felicity of angling for salmon, were the dearest of 
earth — home, family, and friends. For these we could en- 
dure the sights of striking tents, and loading the bark ca- 
noes for our departure to the mouth of the river. 

Our tents were struck, tents, trunks, and rubber bags 
packed before breakfast. None but the experienced can re- 
alize how lonely appears the little spot of ground over which 
his tent has been stretched for several weeks, but of which 
nothing remains except the boughs of the fir-tree which rest- 
ed him, and gave him pleasant dreams for many nights. "We 
still heard the salmon leaping and splashing in the river, and 
the two lone birds piping their merry notes, though our tents 
were removed and packed in the canoes. But, shaking off 
the sense of melancholy which I felt to be gaining on me, I 
remembered that the lines of true anglers always fall in 
pleasant places, and so adjourned to breakfast. 

As the general had decided to remain and see the salmon 
season out, 'twere wrong to deny the fact that leaving him 



A Fake well Yiew. 253 

and his lady greatly deepened the shade of our feelings at 
parting from the peaceful plateau. But we all put on cheer- 
ful faces and mixed our coffee with anecdotes. Our break- 
fast consisted of fried or broiled trout, broiled grilse, termed 
in Canada "dejeuner" signifying "breakfast." By others it 
is called the " white salmon." Then we had ham and eggs, 
hot biscuit, etc. We enjoyed our last meal as well as cir- 
cumstances Avould admit under the conflicting feelings of a 
hope to soon see our families, and a regret that the lunar bow 
and aurora borealis, with the singing birds, would have to 
sing and shine without us. 

As to the salmon which had played us, and at numerous 
times sold us, we felt as if we would have liked another con- 
test with them; but as that was impossible then and there, 
as we had not the time to -spare, we promised those of them 
which parted from us with our hooks as nose-jewels, and oth- 
ers that — having played us long enough — sprang the hook 
out of their beautiful mouths, that if we hook them again 
they will not get off so easily. 

After breakfast, and all being ready for our departure, the 
stars and stripes were raised, and while, the general waved 
his salmon-rod, we started, and a salute to our honor was 
fired from our only cannon as we parted from view of the pla- 
teau and disappeared from its remaining inhabitants around 
the foot of the mountain, at the bend of the St. John, just be- 
low the entrance of Rattling Run. 
. Our hearts were full as we responsively shouted hurra ! 

Ye rivers, so haunted with myriads of flies, 
"Whose flashes of salmon-hreaks gladden the eyes ; 
Scenes where the brown bear roams the thick brake ; 
Scenes where the seals their gambolings make ; 
When shall I tread your fair precincts again ? 
When kindle my camp-fires over your plain ? 
When again cast my line and my flies, 
Charming my senses — feasting my eyes ? 

The river was low and the reefs nearly bare, so that navi- 
gation was not so safe as when we ascended ; but our guides 



254 Fishing in American Waters. 

knew how to manage bark canoes better than to speak any 
language, their patois being a medley of French, Indian, and 
English. But they were all trusty and industrious, as all 
Canadian guides are. It is best that each angler have two 
guides and one canoe ; for. though one man only is needed to 
attend an angler for gaffing and rowing in the neighborhood 
of the encampment, yet for long journeys up rapid rivers 
two men are indispensable. Cabins for cooking and for lodg- 
ing may also be soon erected, and they are preferable to port- 
able tents. 

The River St. John winds like a serpent between the moun- 
tains, and as the fall from our plateau to the mouth — 27 miles 
— is more than 150 feet, the rapids are very swift; so that 
many times in rounding a bend we surprised a family of seals 
teaching their young to catch salmon, wild geese with their 
goslings, ducks with their broods, and expected to see Bruin, 
but didn't. 

The row down the river was most pleasurable. The thin 
bark canoe responded to the lashings of the tide, and we felt 
as the lobster-peddler said, "All alive ! all alive !" The doc- 
tor, who had taken a front seat in the canoe, with his coat on 
and broad-brimmed hat, had found the passage so jolly that 
— like Obadiah Oldbuck — he had turned over a new leaf by 
taking off both his hat and coat, and remarked, as we shot a 
rapid, " Let her went !" 

The Indians were returning up the St. John to their homes 
in the icy regions, having disposed of their furs at the Min- 
gan fair, and laid in a winter supply of flour and salt. 

It was all vain to look kindly to these Esquimaux squaws, 
who are really beautiful, with their olive complexions, raven 
locks, and lustrous eyes. They are wedded to the forest. We 
met some twenty odd Indian canoes ascending the river to 
their homes, who knew enough of English to ask " Salmon 
plenty ?" But very few would make so bold as to ask, " Has 
you nothing good for me '?" Of course they do not suppose 
it degrading to beg from civilized men, for they consider 



Welcomed by the Dogs. 255 

them as appertaining to the outer world. I was greatly 
amused by their appearances. There were many young men 
among them who displayed great taste in the arrangement 
of their hair; and some of the squaws had heads of locks 
worth diamonds, and for which many of our belles would 
swap their eye-teeth, of best manufacture, for similar heads 
of natural growth. 

On our arrival at the mouth of the river, the dogs came 
from some thirty cabins to welcome us. They were of all 
kinds, sizes, and colors, and their salutations were most wel- 
come. The sight and hospitable bark of our own kind of 
dogs gladdened our eyes and ears, producing a charming ef- 
fect. Having landed and become hospitably housed at the 
quarters of the government agent, while our guides attended 
to landing oar luggage and cutting fir-boughs for our beds, 
we jointed our trout-rods, and walked a short distance from 
the cabin to the sandy shore of the river, where, within thir- 
ty minutes, we took over fifty sea ti*out averaging a pound 
each. I frequently fastened two at a time on the same cast 
of flies with which I had last fished on Long Island. 

SECTION TENTH. 

THE SILVER OR SEA TROUT. 

This fish inhabits for nearly half the year the tidal waters 
of the streams in Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. 
It is also taken in the estuaries of rivers in Maine, Massachu- 
setts, and Long Island. Being aware of the high authorities 
which assert this to be a distinct family of the Salmo genus, 
I must beg humbly to dissent ; and from the following de- 
scription I invite anglers to decide for themselves whether 
the sea trout is not the Salmo fontinalis, or brook trout com- 
mon to the streams of the northern part of North America, 
The sea trout is similar to the brook trout in all facial pecu- 
liarities. It is shaped like the brook trout ; the vermiculate 
marks on the back and above the lateral line are like those 
of the brook trout ; its vermilion, white, and amber dots are 



256 



Fishing est American Waters. 



like the brook trout's; its fins are like those of the brook 
trout, even to the square or slightly lunate end of tail. It has 
the amber back and silver sides of such brook trout as have 
access to the estuary food of the eggs of different fishes, the 
young of herring, mackerel, smelt, spearing, shrimp, and even 
the young of its own family and those of the salmon. Ow- 
ing to this food, it becomes whiter and brighter than those 




The biLVEK. OK fcjKA Trout. — Trutta Argentina or Trutta n,ariua. 

trout which inhabit swampy waters impregnated and discol- 
ored by decayed vegetable matter, where the trout are con- 
fined without the power of visiting salt water. All the au- 
thorities agree that the sea trout spawns at the heads of 
fresh-water streams, ascending from the estuary in August, 
and not returning until the following winter and spring. 
All brook trout visit the heads of streams in autumn, and 
return to the lower waters at the close of winter. Bi-ook 
trout of mountainous regions, where the streams run through 
rocky defiles and mountain gorges, or through a sandy soil, 
are always brighter than the black-mouthed trout of hemlock 
and tamarack swamps. I am informed that, of fifteen trout- 
lakes in a certain part of Scotland, there are not two lakes 
which contain trout entirely similar. Even the famous Gil- 
laroo trout, which some anglers suppose to have a gizzard, 
has merely a lump in its stomach formed by the peculiarity 
of the clay and other substances on which it feeds. In the 
United States and the Canadas we have the salmon, the sal- 



Choice Member of a First Family. 257 

mon-trout of the lakes, the brook trout, the silver or sea 
trout, which I believe to be the brook trout, the white trout, 
or laud-locked salmon, the large brown trout (Salmo Cana- 
densis), the Mackinaw trout, the winninish, and the red trout 
of Long Lake. All these fishes have the adipose second dor- 
sal, are pinky-meated, and the laminary flakes are separated 
by a thin curd or creamy substance. 

, The real salmon of different waters do not differ so much in 
shape and surface-marks as do either the brook trout or the 
lake trout, though old fishermen in Canada can distinguish 
by the appearance of a salmon to what river it belongs ; so 
they say, at least. Twenty-five salmon of some rivers will 
fill a barrel, while of those from other rivers from forty to 
fifty are required ; but the variety in size constitutes the 
chief difference. 

Our little party continued to take trout daily at the mouth 
of the St. John for nearly a week, until a schooner was pre- 
pared to convey us to Gaspe. The silver trout is indeed 
beautiful, being plump and round, with its polished sides 
glistening brightly with a satin sheen which sparkles with 
glowing lustre in the light. Its superior condition renders 
it plump, the meat very pinky, and the play very vigorous. 
The only drawback that I experienced in taking silver trout 
arose from too many offering for my flies at a time, and the 
little ones generally succeeding in obliging me to play and 
land them, when I had seen larger ones coveting my flies, 
and leaping at them for a taste. It was surprising to note 
the excitement which fly-fishing for trout produced among the 
cod-fishing families. Men, women, and children followed us 
along the river, and gladly received all the smaller trout. 
There was a fleet of some sixty sail of cod fishermen in the 
place, and their hired hands " shammed Abram to be idle" in 
order to see us take trout on our flies from the surface of the 
water. It was an easy matter to take in two hours a barrel 
of trout running from half a pound to four pounds. The wa- 
ter was so perfectly clear that we could occasionally perceive 

R 



258 Fishing est American Waters. 

a lordly salmon move majestically among the. speckled beau- 
ties, no doubt waiting for a shower to swell the waters, and 
enable him to start on his perilous voyage to the spawning- 
grounds near the head of the river. As we were fishing from 
the beach which forms the breakwater at the mouth of the 
St. John, my attention was arrested by a thirty-pound sal- 
mon swimming along slowly toward the mouth, and within 
easy casting distance for my single-banded trout-rod. As I 
was admiring him, he chanced to see my motion in casting, 
and dashed away into the sparkling surf at the mouth of the 
river. 

Taking trout with the fly is always more or less interest- 
ing, but, as a branch of sport, it dwindles greatly on return- 
ing from a successful trip of angling for salmon. Broadway 
is beautiful to those who have never visited Paris; but on 
returning from the Boulevards, the Champs Elysees, and the 
Bois de Boidogne, the beauties which he contemplated with 
admiration before he left New York lack the charm of artist- 
ic finish and the picturesque variety which youth always per- 
ceives, but Avhich age or experience can not discover even 
with the aid of glasses. 

THE WHITE TROUT. 

While the fog is lifting from Schoodic Lake, 
And the white trout are leaping for flies, 

It's exciting sport these beauties to take, 
Jogging the nerves and feasting the eyes. 

This trout inhabits Schoodic and Grand Lakes in the State 
of Maine. Although it is eminently a lake fish, yet it is found 
in the tributaries and outlets near the lakes named. It is 
similar to the hirling in Scotland in the peculiarity of its 
meat varying from cream to mallow color. The av erage size 
of the white trout is from three to five pounds' weight, and 
in outline it is between the salmon and the brook trout, with 
the top of head and color of dorsal and caudal fins black and 
lustrous as velvet, the latter crescent-shaped, with jet spots 



Gamy and Beautiful. 259 

on the gill-covers like the salmon. The mouth is furnished 
with teeth on the palate, tongue, vomerine, palatine, and max- 
illary, like those of the brook trout, or as are nearly all the 
young of the Salmonidm ; but its head is longer than that 
of the common trout, and much larger in proportion than the 
salmon's. Its scales are small, and the body is entirely white 
below the lateral line, and very light gray above it, all shin- 
ing with metallic lustre. It is better game than any other 
lake family of the genus Salmo, and will readily take the Ay 
on the surface of the water. With a two-handed trout-rod, 
fifteen feet long, a person unskilled in fly-fishing has taken 
over a hundred in three hours of these transcendent beauties. 




The White Trout. — Salmo albus. 

Some persons have supposed this blonde beauty "a land- 
locked salmon," than which nothing can be much more ab- 
surd, for it has the common egress of a commodious river 
which debouches in Passamaquoddy Bay, while those of the 
lakes in the provinces have equally favorable avenues of es- 
cape. No, it is a comparatively new luxury to the American 
angler, and well worthy his attention. 

Though many anglers use a two-handed fly-rod for taking 
the white -trout, yet it is more artistic to use a half-pound fly- 
rod and single fly ; the cinnamon, Montreal with claret body 
and brown mallard wing, with the yellow and blue profes- 
sors, are all the flies needed for any weather, though the 
coachman of white wing and peacock's herl body is a good 
sunset fly, and the red ibis wing with silver body sometimes 
takes very well. 

The late Rev. Dr. Bethune regarded this fish and its sport- 
ive ways with enthusiasm, and the borders of Schoodic lakes 



260 Fishing in American Waters. 

and the St. Croix River still retain many marks of his en- 
campments. The approaches to these grounds are via East- 
port or Calais, Maine. At either of these places the angler 
will find guides to the aromatic groves which overlook the 
waters where the white trout disport in shoals of thousands. 

THE WINNINISH. 

"'At early dawn, or rather when the air, 

Glimmering with fading light, and shadowy eve 
Is busiest to confer and to bereave, 

Then, pensive votary, let thy feet repair 

To silent lakes, or gentle river fair." 

This fish belongs to the genus Salmo, and tenants the up- 
per waters of the Saguenay, near the outlet of Lake St. John, 
in Canada. The fish runs from three to nine pounds' weight ; 
and as no very young members of the family nor the spawn- 
ing-beds have been seen by the habitans and Indians of that 
region, it is reasonable to infer that they breed farther north; 
and as they have a dorsal fin like that of the grayling, it is 
quite probable that it is the fish written of by an officer of 
the expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, whose descrip- 
tion made " Frank Forrester" suppose it to be an American 
grayling. But it is neither the grayling nor the omble chev- 
alier, but a rare delicacy of the frozen latitudes of the Cana- 
dian forests. Professor Agassiz is said to have named it the 
Northern charr. 




The Winninish. 



The fins of the winninish, being large in proportion to its 
size, render it very gamy. It sails near the surface, with the 
top of dorsal and caudal fins in view, and when it takes the 



Very rake Delicacies. 261 

fly, leaps, runs, and plays more vigorously than a grilse. The 
fish is gray on its back and sides, interspersed with white 
scales, all of which are small, but brilliant. Epicures regard 
the winninish as a higher luxury than either the brook trout 
or salmon. Its head resembles the trout, but the mouth is 
larger, and equally tough for holding a hook. The meat is 
pink-colored. It takes either the minnow or the fly gener- 
ously. Fish-culturists might with advantage turn their at- 
tention to the winninish and the white trout. 

Lake Trout of Moosehead Lake. — This trout is unlike 
any other in the American waters. It is round in body, and 
resembles the winninish in large first dorsal and large tail. 
Its meat is straw-colored, and on each side below the gills are 
five or six dark spots the size of peas, and like those on the 
shad. It- is clad in small scales, dark on the back, orange 
sides, and belly like the doree or common river pickerel. Ber- 
ing so excellent a dinner-fish, it is surprising that the markets 
of Maine continue to monopolize it to the exclusion of epi- 
cures in other states. It is caught by the hand-line, as other 
lake trout. 

red trout oe long lake. 

"I see the bright trout springing 

Where the wave is dark, yet clear, 
And a myriad flies are winging, 

As if to tempt him near. 
With the lucid waters blending, 

The willow shade yet floats, 
From beneath whose quiet bending 

I used to launch my boats. " 

This is the richest and most beautiful specimen of lake 
trout known in the State of New York. In outline it resem- 
bles the brook trout which have access to marine feeding- 
grounds, except in the tail, which is forked. In color it is a 
reddish-brown on the back, mellowing to a pink at the sides, 
and a belly of white with pink tinge. The whole of its sur- 
face, except its head and belly, is thickly dotted with orange 
specks about the size of pigeon-shot. Like the trout of all 



262 Fishing in American Waters. 

the lakes, its scales are so small as to be scarcely perceptible, 
but its body is marked with fine, transverse diagonal lines, 
forming diamonds or canvas like the surface of fine drilling 
or marseilles. This is an unfailing mark of peculiarity. Its 
meat is pink-colored, with rich layers of cream between its 
flakes. 




Red Trout of Long Lake. 

The red trout will rise to the artificial fly, take a feathered 
spoon or well-dissembled minnow. Trolling is the favorite 
mode of fishing for this beauty, whose average weight is from 
five to fifteen pounds. It is very gamy, displaying much 
muscular force and propulsive power in its runs and leaps. 
To angle for the red trout is worth a voyage to the Adiron- 
dacks in June and July. It is fine sport to use salmon-tackle 
and take him on the fly until fatigued, when the exercise may 
be changed to trolling. 

There is a universe of pent-up luxuries for the sportsman 
in that ninety-two miles square known as the Adirondacks, 
in the heart of the State of New York. A hundred moun- 
tains shade as many lakes, which teem with living beauties 
too rich in coloring and symmetrical in form to be copied by 
the painter's art. All the American varieties of the Salmo 
genus except the solar are found in these lakes and their trib- 
utaries, with the palpitations of busy life shut out, and naught 
but a simple tenting residence on aromatic boughs for a bed, 
where the timid deer comes with her spotted fawn to the 
margin of the lake to drink, and hesitatingly trusts the cross- 
paths of men. The eagles soar aloft in the heavens above 
the blue summits of cloud-capped mountains which seem to 
jostle each other. Imagination is not sufficiently vivid to 



The Home of a Sportsman. 263 

realize the sense inspired in the Adirondacks by a sunrise 
scene. The owl has ceased to hoot, the whip-poor-will to 
sing, the panther to scream, and the wolves to howl ; but the 
sun lights up each bush and spray, and the shadows and 
mountains form majestic basins. Now the brook trout are 
busy, and the day-birds are musical. 

Here, in these narrow lakes of pure water, fed by trout- 
brooks, the gentle angler takes his morning walk, where the 
breaks of speckled beauties enliven the waters with hopeful 
expectancy, and naught disturbs the tranquillity, richness, 
and grandeur of primeval nature. Here the poet, painter, or 
philosopher may inflate the soul and invigorate the body, so 
that, on returning to the busy world, he may be the better 
able to endure its chafings and contests for another year. 

TROUT OE SENECA AND CANANDAIGUA LAKES. 

"The generous gushing of the springs, 

When the angler goes a-trolling ; 
The stir of song and summer wings, 
The light which shines, and life which sings, 
Make earth replete with happy things 

When the angler goes a-trolling." — Stoddaet. 

This fish spawns in October and November, or when other 
families of the genus Salmo do ; is white-mouthed and pinky- 
meated. Its qualities, outlines, and superficial marks are as 
varied as are its edible qualities. All anglers know that 
these depend much on the quality of water they inhabit and 
the food they eat. In the latter particular they resemble all 
animals and fishes. There are salmon-trout in nearly every 
lake within the State of New York ; but the fish of Seneca, 
Cananclaigua, Skaneateles, and Long Lake are infinitely supe- 
rior, both as game and for the table, to those of Lake Onta- 
rio and the other great lakes. 

The color of this fish is a drab, with pink tinge from the 
back two thirds down each side, shaded with vermiculate 
marks, and covered with infinitesimal scales, like the com- 
mon lake trout. The fins are like those of the brook trout, 



264 Fishing in American Water's. 

except the caudal, which is forked. The head resembles the 
brook trout's, even to the teeth. By some persons this fish 
is supposed to be a land-locked salmon ; but it is a distinct 
family of the genus Sahno, though in principal outward marks 
of characterization it resembles the salmon-trout of Ontario 
and the other great lakes, differing because of inhabiting lim- 
pid spring waters with better food. 




Trout of Seneca and Cayuga Lakes. — Salmo conjinis. 

In May, after the waters become settled and clear, these 
fish are taken by trolling with spinning-tackle and minnow 
bait. It is necessary to sink the bait near the bottom, and, 
as the trout remain near shore until June, a light sinker will 
be sufficient ; but when the weather becomes quite warm 
they resort to a feeding-level from fifty to two hundred feet 
below the surface, where they are taken by trolling with 
feathered squids. The line should be two hundred yards 
long, of the size used for catching cod, and from twelve feet 
above the hook to twenty-five feet leads an eighth of an inch 
thick are rolled at intervals on the line, sometimes to the 
weight of a pound. Row slowly, and let out line until you 
get a bite, and then calculate the depth to the feeding-level, 
as the water in some places is a thousand feet deep. 

Baiting the buoy and fishing with a drop-line is also prac- 
ticed with success, though none of these methods of taking- 
lake trout are very attractive to the angler. 

THE MACKINAW TROUT. 

This trout is the largest of the genus in American waters, 
generally running from two to five feet in length, and weigh- 
ing from fifteen to fifty pounds, though Dr. Mitchill states 



A Luxury of the IN okthwest. 265 

that it sometimes attains to the weight of 120 pounds. It is 
dark colored on the back, sides, dorsal aud caudal fins, mel- 
lowing off from the lateral lines to a white or creamy belly. 
Vermiculate marks cover its back and sides. The second 
dorsal, like that of all the Salmonidce, is adipose. Pectoral, 
ventral, and anal fins light cream color, as are also the irides. 



The Mackinaw Teout. — Salmo amethystus. — Mitchill. 

As this trout inhabits the .deep pools in the cold lakes 
from Huron to the frigid zone, its meat is firm, and the fish 
is highly prized by epicures. It is sometimes taken as far_ 
south as the Ohio shore of Lake Erie, either by trolling with 
a minnow or a feathered spoon, or with cisco and young lake 
herrings — all captivating lures. There are many taken Avith 
gill-nets and set-lines in deep water, as also with hand-lines, 
by previously sinking a large stone with a rope attached, and 
at the other end of the rope fasten a buoy, and for several 
days cast in butchers' offal by the buoy until it is supposed 
the fish are chummed to that place as a feeding-ground, when 
— with large hook, heavy sinker, and codfish line — the fisher 
with the hand-line takes them as fast as he can bait and land 
them. This killing method is a favorite one with many men 
who fish for lake trout to sell, but it is very unsportsman- 
like. In winter it is taken on hooks baited with pork through 
holes cut in the ice for the purpose. The best places to an- 
gle for this luxury, either with the troll or hand-line, is in 
Lakes Huron, Superior, the Straits of Mackinaw and Green 
Bay ; from the latter water, Chicago, Galena, and many towns 
in the interior of Wisconsin are supplied. In fishing through 
the ice, when a fisherman gets a bite, he throws the line over 
his shoulder and walks away from the hole, drawing the fish 



266 Fishing in American Waters. 

rapidly up and out on the ice, where it is left to freeze. Be- 
sides the thousands of them transported every winter in a 
frozen state, many are salted and shipped off in the spring. 
This trout is the most voracious of all the species, fattening 
on such delicate luxuries as herrings, ciscos, and whitefish. 

SECTION ELEVENTH. 

AMERICAN PICKEREL, OR PIKE. 

By blue lake marge, upon whose breast 
The water-lilies love to rest, 
Lurking beneath those leaves of green 
The fierce pike seeks his covert screen, 
And thence with sudden plunge and leap, 
Swift as a shaft through air may sweep, 
He seizes, rends, and bears away 
To hidden lair his struggling prey. 

This fish, like the brook trout, is almost universally known. 
It inhabits nearly all the waters of the north temperate zone, 
and varies in appearance according to its food, and the vol- 
ume and quality of the water in which it is found. The large 
pickerel taken in the St. Lawrence River and in many Cana- 
dian waters is called by some the " great Northern pike," of 
the family HJsocidce, supposed to be unlike the common pike 
or pickerel, or Esox Lucius ; but throughout twenty years' 
experience at taking pickerel, I have been unable to discover 
a very marked difference between the Northern pike and the 
pickerel south of the St. Lawrence. 




American Pickerel, or Pike. 

" The pike is the English name of a fish belonging to the 
order Malacopterygii, section Abdomiuales, family Esocida?, 
and genus Esox." 

The pickerel or pike spawns in March and April, and should 
not be caught between January and July. In England it 



One of the American Fishes. 



267 



sometimes attains to the weight of sixty pounds, and in Nor- 
way it occasionally rises to a hundred pounds, and more than 
eight feet in length, while in America it is quite rare to take 
one of more than twenty pounds' weight. 




OF PICKEREL, AND ANGLING FOR THEM. 

ish of this family are known 
in the United States by the 
name of pickerel, which is the 
name in England for a dimin- 
utive pike. All pike, after ris- 
ing above the pickerel weight, 
and under five pounds, in En- 
gland, are known as " Jack," 
probably named after a poach- 
er by the name of Jack Pike. 
In the waters of the East- 
ern, Middle, and Western 
States, as also throughout the 
Dominion of Canada, the pick- 
erel is found in most of the lakes, ponds, and some rivers ; 
especially is it numerous in ponds where surface-water pre- 
ponderates, and by reason of which the salmon families are 
excluded. 

The meat of small pickerel is mealy, fresh, and without de- 
cided flavor, when — because of its yellow color — it is called 
doree ; but those from three pounds upward, taken in pure 
water, may be justly considered a good breakfast-fish. The 
pickerel of Greenwood Lake are good, because the food is 
abundant, and trout rills drop into the lake from every direc- 
tion. As the lake is only 60 miles from New York, I used to 
take a seat in an evening train of the Erie Railroad, arriving 
in Chester at 7 P.M., and drive down ten miles to the lake in 
time to give Jack — the baitman — orders to have all things 
ready, and call me at five next morning. Tap-tap-tap at my 
chamber door announced that it was five, and nothing more. 



268 Fishing in American Waters. 

Forthwith I mounted my toggery, took a cracker, and fol- 
lowed Jack to the boat, where all things were in readiness, 
and he sculled me out to a raft or float on the lake, which had 
been anchored at one of the best feeding-places for the long- 
noses. Leaving me with my half dozen poles, ten feet long 
each, and a pail of live minnows, Jack returned to the shore. 

Among the numerous methods of still-baiting for pickerel, 
that from an anchored float is the most quiet and easy. As 
I was attaching a line to each pole, a deer, with elegant but 
timid tread, came to the margin of the lake and took a drink. 
It was September — a month for excellent A^enison ; but then 
he was too pretty and innocent-looking to kill, and, though 
within short range, I had no rifle with me. The god of day 
had not yet appeared, but the merry songsters made the 
copse and fields joyous. To each stout pole I tied a line, 
three feet longer than the pole, and at the end of each I at- 
tached a gimp-snelled hook, and covered the connection of 
line and snell with a small strip of sheet lead. The water 
was from seven to nine feet deep, and for a float I tied a piece 
of pine shingle, which produced no resistance to a bite, but 
merely kept the bait a foot above the bottom. The shingle- 
float was ten inches long, two inches wide at the thin, feath- 
ered end, and tapered to a point, being half an inch square at 
the end where I made the notch and tied the line. 

In still-baiting for pickerel, if the fish takes the bait, and 
learns that it is anchored or not at liberty, the fish at once 
rejects it ; but by means of the sharp-ended float no percep- 
tible resistance is offered, and the pickerel swims off toward 
a convenient place to gorge it. There were places arranged 
on the float for properly setting the poles, and arm-chairs at 
intervals invited to rest between bites. By the time I had 
baited my sixth hook and set my last pole, I saw the shingle- 
float to one of my lines tip up a trifle, and glide along the 
surface of the water, sinking gradually as it moved. I gave 
a sudden jerk with the pole to an opposite direction from 
that which the float was moving, and thus hooked and landed 



■How to enjoy a Breakfast. 269 

on the raft a four-pound pickerel. Before I had baited again, 
another float gave signs of agitation, and I landed another. 
Jack, who had observed my success, now sculled alongside, 
and took the two pickerel to be prepared for breakfast. 

I continued fishing and admiring the scenery, with the 
tops of the mountains just beginning to be illuminated by 
the rays of a bright sunrise, and the pickerel accepted my of- 
ferings most voraciously, so that I was in the midst of a most 
successful contest when the horn blew for breakfast. After 
fastening my rods securely to the float, and seeing that each 
hook was well baited, I sculled ashore for breakfast. 

On that lovely morning the sun seemed to have decked all 
nature in holiday costume. After a refreshing bath, on en- 
tering the hall leading to the dining-room, in the fragrant 
aroma of the coffee I scented a welcome. The pickerel, which 
had been first broiled or singed on the flesh side to prevent 
the juice from escaping, was turned, and with a renewal of 
hickory-wood coals was " done to a turn." Fresh butter, red 
pepper, and a dash of black pepper for its aroma, prepared 
the melting delicacy for the table. The smoke of the viands, 
fish, and of the tureen of mashed potatoes, with the fragrant 
coffee, greeted the senses like incense, and filled the measure 
of my hope and ambition. 

After breakfast, a walk on the veranda, the discussion of 
a cabana, and a look at the morning papers, which had al- 
ready been received from the city, made me again anxious to 
try the metal of those sly and peering long-noses. Adjourn- 
ing to the hotel at eleven o'clock, forty-four pickerel included 
my mess, and, partaking of an attractive lunch, I returned to 
New York City in time to dine at seven in the evening. 



270 



Fishing in American "Waters. 




SKITTERING* FOR PICKEREL AMONG THE LILY-PADS. 

" Now changed the tackle and the bait ; 
For larger prey we're all elate ; 
'Mong lily-pads none vainly tries ; 
The line runs off — a noble prize ! 
Give time to poach — now strike ! 

" Now seeks his haunt the wounded prey, 
And then begins the angler's play ; 
He lengthens out, now slackens line, 
Till struggles past — a welcome sign — 
He lands a glorious pike ! 

Chorus. — The jolly angler's is the life, 

Devoid of care, devoid of strife." 

Angling for pickerel among the lily-pads and pickerel- weed 
is very exciting sport. The angler should use a rod from 1 3 
to 15 feet long, flexible, but strong. For skittering a float 
is not used, nor is natural bait the best. Use Buel's or 
M'Harg's spoons, mounted with red ibis feather, and white 

* Skittering is a word which belongs to an angler's vocabulary, but not 
found in a dictionary. It means drawing or jerking a bait along the top of 
the water. 



Quiet Scenery and Active Sport. 271 

feathers or hair for the under side of the spoon. Stand near 
the bow of your punt, and skitter the lure along the surface 
of the water, near the margins of the lily-pads, and if you are 
on Sodus Bay, or tempting the fish from almost any of the 
bayous of Lake Ontario, you will find cause for surprise that 
will force you to ejaculate; for it will be questionable which 
will be the most astonished, the novice in the boat or that in 
the water. A most important essential is to have a man at 
the- stern who can use the setting-pole and sculls so as to en- 
able you to fish the border of the lily-pads without scaring 
the prey into their hiding-places. 

Cuffy says, "Uf we had cle gun, we might git a mess of 
wood-duck." I reply, " Confound wood-duck ! Don't you see 
that the large pickerel is going into the weeds, and that I 
can not prevent him? Turn the punt from shore." 

In skittering for pickerel with live minnow, the shiner is 
the best. Use two or three hooks in a gang, as represented 
for " sjfinning-tackle." Keep your bait in motion, upon the 
same principle that you would fish for salmon or brook trout. 
It is the favorite plan of angling for pickerel in New England, 
and is, moreover, essentially modern, and affords active recre- 
ation. 

STILL-BAITING FOR PICKEREL. 

' ' The angler is free 

From the cares which degree 
Finds itself with so often tormented ; 

And although Ave should slay 

Each a hundred a day, 
'Tis a slaughter needs ne'er he repented." — Cotton. 

The primitive and philosophical method of angling for pick- 
erel is with an ash or hickory pole. The bait is a live frog. 
Of course, while angling in this way, you may study nature ; 
but, lest you should fathom all things too soon, take books 
with you, for they are frequently unfathomable. Seek a place 
on the margin of a solitary pond, shut out from the habita- 
tions of men by a dense grove. Seat yourself on some fallen 



272 



Fishing in American "Waters. 




STILL-BAITING FOR PICKEREL. 



tree of ancient renown, and there beside you place your books. 
Then bait your hook, and cast it off among the lily-pads or 
stumps which margin the pond, and gaze away on vacancy. 
There is naught set down against smoking at such a place 
on such occasions. Let the birds bill and coo in the grove 
behind you, and if your mind is intent on developing a new 
theory, let your bait creep up on a stump near you, to the 



The contemplative Philosopher. 273 

envy of all kingfishers who may covet it ; and let it partake 
of your afflatus while it watches your movements, to be pre- 
pared, in case you suspect a bite, lest you should disconcert 
it by jerking. If you do not take a mess offish, comprehend 
solitude. It has its charms, of course, for Robinson Crusoe 
said that sages had seen them. Disregard the Frenchman's 
opinion who stated that the solitude which has charms is al- 
ways near cities or large towns. Verbum sat sapienti. 

S 




[Vote. — The larva or grab of the dragon-fly lives in the water ten or twelve months, 
pursuing there its prey, until the time for its metamorphosis arrives. Then it crawls 
up out of the water upon the stem of some water-plant; a rent soon appears upon its 
shoulders, from which comes forth the dragon-fly. The " coming out" of this winged 
tenant of the air may be observed, around our ponds and marshes, almost any any 
in the months of May and Juue.] 



274 



Fishing in American Waters. 




CHAPTER VI. 

TROLLING AMONG THE THOUSAND ISLANDS. 

Here is the angler's paradise, 

A dreaming, Eden-like retreat, 
With balm}' perfume in the air, 

And wild-flowers springing at the feet. 

All the charms which angling for pickerel confer are sub- 
limated and condensed into trolling among the Thousand Isl- 
ands. The pickerel of the thousand lucent streams and rap- 
ids, shaded by as many floral islands, are much better flavor- 
ed than are those which dream out an indolent existence while 
watching for frogs among the lily-pads, or darting, until they 
wear themselves thin, after the minnows of ponds and rivers. 

The Thousand Islands extend from Cape Vincent to a few 
miles below Alexandria Bay, or about thirty miles, and the 
average width of river is about five miles. Imagination may 
better picture than I can describe the hundred and fifty miles 
of trolling and casting the fly on streams dividing picturesque 
islands, or islets covered with greensward and enlivened by 



The Quiet and Beautiful. 275 

wild-flowers. Some of these isles are decked with, large 
clumps of copse and grove, and others with stately trees 
which reach sublimely heavenward. This charming scene is 
enlivened by the wood-duck and other birds of gay plumage 
or melodious song. I venture the statement that it is une- 
qualed any where on earth for its beauty, variety, and life of 
scenery. Neither the water streets of Venice with their gon- 
dolas, nor the Bois de Boulogne with its ornamental drives 
and picturesque lakes aud fountains, ai'e at all comparable 
with the Thousand. Islands. 

From Cape Vincent to within a few miles of Ogdensburg 
there is fishing and shooting enough to satisfy all the epicu- 
rean lovers of field-sports in America, did they but know a 
tithe of the riches of land and water which their excellent fish 
and game offer as attractions. 

The Thousand Islands forms the most extensive spawning- 
ground between the Atlantic and the great chain of lakes • 
there are numerous eddies and shallow sand-bars among 
these islands where the wall-eyed pike and black bass spawn, 
but the fishermen are complaining that the annual diminu- 
tion in catches calls loudly for a law of reciprocal protection 
between the Dominion of Canada and the United States. If 
the myriads of lake and river fishes which resort to the Thou- 
sand Islands to spawn were allowed to breed — unmolested by 
net or spear — an annual stock of pickerel, black bass, glass- 
eyed pike, Oswego bass, and fishes of smaller varieties would 
be propagated there in sufficient numbers to stock all the 
American waters. 

All the little towns along the Thousand Islands have be- 
come attractive summer resorts. It was here that Bishop 
Hughes and Dr. Bethune used to recuperate body and brain, 
while their minds were soothed by the picturesque harmo- 
nies of nature. 

On visiting the Thousand Islands for a few days' recrea- 
tion, my advice is to go in pairs. A gentleman companion 
will answer, but a lady is better. Clayton, which is a town 



276 Fishing in American Waters. 

nearly midway of the islands, on the south side of the river, 
is said to be the most convenient point to select for trolling ; 
for, in addition to the best grounds being near there, its cen- 
tral location enables anglers to make a trip up or down the 
river to the extremity of the islands and to return the same 
day. The hotels along the Thousand Islands are generally 
comfortable, and the landlords reliable. Make known your 
wants to the proprietor, and he will engage a man and boat 
for you. All the trolling-boats are superior in model for 
speed and comfort. The boatman furnishes rods, lines, baits, 
and rows his own boat. I prefer to use my own tackle, even 
to spoons and feathered squids. Each row-boat is furnished 
with two cushioned arm-chairs, in which yourself and lady 
are seated near the stern and facing it. The bottom of the 
boat is carpeted, and crimson is the favorite color. The fish- 
ing-rods are so set, by appliances in the boat and on the taff- 
rail, that the troll follows outside of the track, as the rods are 
held at right angles with the boat, like outriggers. The line 
is from fifteen to twenty yards long, and the troller lets it 
run from the reel as the gaffer rows along. The trollers soon . 
become so enraptured with the varied beauties of the shifting 
scenes that they lose the consciousness of being on a fishing 
excursion until the oarsman calls loudly, "Bite on the lady!" 
which sufficiently disenchants them for the lady to reel in a 
pickerel or black bass, or perchance a maskinonge ; when 
" Bite on the gentleman !" is heard, and he reels in a fish to 
the gaff or landing-net. 

Parties leave the hotels in couples, agreeing upon a rendez- 
vous for lunching on some island. The boatmen take bread, 
ice, vegetables, and condiments, and couples sally forth upon 
the waters, and adjourn at the appointed time in the midst 
of groves of more than Oriental beauty. The fish are cooked 
by an artist on an extemporized fireplace, while other gaffers 
are spreading the cloth on the greensward, where the repast 
is served, and all goes on enchantingly. After luncheon they 
repair to their boats, when they continue trolling, or cast an- 



Leader of the Clan. 277 

•chor on the shady side of a floral islet, in a narrow, rapid chan- 
nel, where they cast the flies for black bass. Thus passes the 
day, on waters where the air is laden with perfume from wild 
roses and honeysuckles, and where the music of birds chimes 
in with the running waters as the trollers alternate between 
light and shade, now gliding along in gorgeous sunlight, and 
anon tracing narrow channels, shaded by tall forest trees, 
where wild ducks and other winged game are rendered al- 
most tame by the contiguity of civilization and the frequent 
sight of gay and jolly fishing-parties. 

SECTION SECOND. 

THE MASKINONGE. 

Where'er Ontario's waters chafe 

The rocky bluffs that crown its shore, 
And where Canadian banks are green, 

And crystal tributaries pour, 
The savage maskinonge doth roam 

The tyrant of the watery plain, 
No rebel to dispute his claim, 

No rival in his great domain. 

The maskinonge is the most beautiful specimen of the pike 
family. The tribe is confined to the range of large lakes and 
rivers of our Northern boundary, and to most of the lakes 
and rivers in the vast northwestern wilderness extending to 
the frigid zone. The Ojibwa name of this fish is " maskanon- 
jci" meaning " long-snout." When Canada was a French col- 
ony, the " habitans" named it masque-longae, signifying long 
visage. I submit that the Ojibwa was entitled by priority to 
the right of naming the fish ; but as the Dominion of Canada 
has named it again, and in all legal enactments there in ref- 
erence to it the name of the fish is written " maskinonge," I 
willingly accept the modification instead of either the Indian 
or the French name. 

Thus much in explanation of naming a fish which has puz- 
zled most ichthyologists and anglers, so that they have been 
uncertain and dubious on the point. The name is Maski- 
nonge, 



278 Fishing in American Waters. 

Having heard many anglers state that they could not dis- 
tinguish the maskinonge from the pickerel, I invite them to 
look at the diversities. The mandibles of the former are 
longer, the tail more forked and larger, the dark gray back 
and light sides are dotted in black, the outline of the fish is 
more delicate and elegant, presenting the appearance of 
greater refinement and higher breeding than the pickerel or 
pike. The surface differences are palpable, but they are not 
so marked as are the epicurean qualities. The meat of the 
maskinonge is compact, white, tender, and peculiarly delicate 
and rich in flavor, without partaking of any taint of extrane- 
ous substance such as decayed wood and bark, which so com- 
monly affect the flavor of pickerel, and even trout. This 
proves that the maskinonge inhabits springs ; and when 
taken in lakes where surface-water is supposed to preponder- 
ate, is always found at points where the fountains gush from 
the bottom. 




The Maskinonge. 

Rice Lake, twelve miles north of Coburg, in Canada, con- 
tains favorite feeding-grounds for the maskinonge. Its nu- 
merous springs, its beds of wild rice miles in length, forming 
a ground shade, its row of islands rising high above the level 
of the lake, covered with dense forests of lofty trees in whose 
shade the fish disport near the fountains, make this their fa- 
vorite resort. These attractions, and the rivers which feed 
the lake and teem with shiners and other tiny baits, render 
Rice Lake remarkable for containing maskinonge which are 
equal in game qualities to any known in America; and I be- 
lieve the fish has never been discovered in any water of the 
eastern hemisphere. 

This fish often attains to nearly seven feet in length, and 



A Study and a Luxuky. 279 

to the weight of from sixty to seventy pounds in the upper 
lakes, as well as in Ontario and the River St. Lawrence. But 
when so large they are less active than when from ten to 
thirty pounds in weight, as in Rice Lake, and the River Oitan- 
abee, which enters Rice Lake opposite and about four miles 
from Gore's Landing. The greatest number that I ever took 
in one day on this lake and river was sixteen, and as I took 
them legitimately — with rod and reel — the gentlemen at Har- 
ris's Hotel decided that I had won the spurs, and invited me 
to their club. . I there learned that it was the greatest num- 
ber ever taken from the lake in one day with a single rod and 
reel ; and as the club was chiefly composed of retired officers 
of the English army and navy, with a sprinkling of civilians 
who own charming boxes on the margin of this beautiful 
lake of thirty miles in length, I regarded the compliment as 
a very flattering one. 

Maskinonge are taken on a troll like either of those repre- 
sented on another page, under the title of" Spoon Victuals for 
Long-snouts." 

Instructions. — Troll with a striped bass rod about ten feet 
long, and on a reel which will carry six hundred feet of fine 
bass line place three hundred feet of the largest linen reel 
line. To the end of this line attach your feathered squid. 
In trolling, let your squid be about sixty feet behind the boa'. 
The oarsman will regulate the speed. Then the first saluta- 
tion that you will probably receive will be a shock-mg jerk, 
and you will see at the end of your line, and about six feet 
above the water,. a maskinonge suspended like Mohammed's 
coffin, only shaking the squid so that it jingles. In that case, 
don't get excited, for it is the last time probably that day 
that you will see him. Row on ; do not turn to go over the 
ground to retrieve your loss, but be ready for a new adven- 
ture. After he hooks himself, do not play him with too stiff 
a line, nor yet slack enough to let him get a bight in it. Tire 
him out, and bring him gently to gaff, and see that your gaff 
be the best of the striped bass pattern. Keep away from 



280 Fishing in American Waters. 

him after your oarsman lands him in the bottom of the boat, 

where he always keeps a mallet or billet of hickory wood to 

pound the fish on the head and prevent him from leaping 

out of the boat, for his saltatory powers surpass those of the 

salmon. It is said that a trout will rise a fall six feet high, 

a salmon one of eleven feet perpendicular, and a maskinonge 

one of nearly thirty feet. 

Far where Lake Erie's billows glance, 
An ocean-like immense expanse, 
The sharp-teeth'd maskinonge' abides, 
The shark of the fresh-water tides. 
Now in the dark abyss of waves 
He glides ; now where the shallow laves 
The grassy shore, and crisp waves break 
O'er the white sands that gird the lake. 

SECTION THIRD. 

THE BLACK BASS. 

Amid the Thousand Isles that gem 

St. Lawrence like a diadem, 

Where winds are soft, and waves are calm, 

And pine-woods steep the air with balm, 

Piscator floats the calm abyss 

'Mid scenes of most transcendent bliss ; 

Wafted across that teeming flood, 

His heart o'erflows with gratitude. 

Many anglers think the black bass next to the salmon for 
game. It is unquestionably high game. Being numerous in 
many waters of the Northern States, it has come to be re- 
garded as a commercial fish, and, through ignorance, many 
confound it with the Oswego bass, which is quite an inferior 
fish as to game and for the table. Some persons have ex- 
ported the black bass both to England and France with the 
view of propagation , but whether they were the real black 
bass is questionable, as they are difficult to export after they 
grow to be larger than fingerlings. 

The black bass is supposed to belong to the perch family, 
or rather order of fishes, because its mouth, gills, fins, and 
scales are similar to those of the Percidw ; but, in order to 



More Gamy than Beautiful. 281 

distinguish it from other fishes of similar color and apparent 
organization, it should be remembered that the real black 
bass has a red speck in each eye like a dot of carmine. It is 
also more delicate in outline, and has a smaller head than the 
Oswego and the Southern bass. The black bass spawns in 
the spring, and, like most fishes which spawn in that season, 
is not supplied with a sac of nutriment attached to the um- 
bilical cord. 

The activity and muscular power of the black bass are suf- 
ficient to enable it to hold its own and increase its numbers 
in waters inhabited by the most ferocious fresh-water fishes, 
such as the maskinonge, glass-eyed pike, and the pickerel or 
pike of the great lakes. 




The Black Bass. — Centrarchus fasciatus. — De Kay. 

With a view to giving the angler a list of the principal 
fishes in the fresh waters of the State of New York, I append 
the following extract from a letter written by an old, intelli- 
gent, and successful angler, who has resided in the central 
part of the state, and fished for the most gamy part of the list 
of which he writes for more than thirty years. His theory 
of the black bass hibernating in clefts of rocks is corrobora- 
ted by other authorities, and is doubtless true. But to the 
extract.* 

* " In the waters of the St. Lawrence, Ontario Lake, Seneca Eiver, Oneida 
and Caynga Lakes, there are fonnd the Oswego and black bass, very similar 
in their shape and in some of their habits, so much so that they are often 
mistaken for one and the same species. The Oswego (sometimes known as 
the 'river bass') is the heavier fish, often attaining to eight pounds' weight ; 
are taken at all times during the year, often in winter through the ice. They 
are good biters, and are game to the last. 



282 Fishing in American Wateks. 

the oswego bass. 

This fish is similar to the black bass in all outward marks, 
except that it has a larger head, lacks the double curve at 

"The black bass seldom attain to more than four and a half pounds.* I 
have taken hundreds, and have never seen one weighing more. They are 
distinguished from the Oswego bass by a faculty of changing color in and out 
of water — sometimes yellow, or yellow with dark bands across, and often 
black as ink. All these changes I have seen in the same individual after 
landing him ; and they invariably emit a disagreeable musky odor. I have 
never known them to be taken in winter, and I think they seek a particular 
location and remain torpid during winter. My attention was directed to this 
fact about thirty years since. At that time I was in the habit of spearing 
fish in a mill-dam on the outlet of the Seneca Lake, at Waterloo, in Seneca 
County. From April to November I found numbers of bass ; from Decem- 
ber to March I found all other varieties, but no bass. 

"In the winter of 1837 the water was shut off at the lake for the purpose 
of deepening the channel to improve the navigation. This was considered a 
favorable time to quarry the limestone in the bed of the river ; and, upon re- 
moving the loose rock in the above-named mill-dam. where the ledges crop- 
ped out, there were found hundreds of bass imbedded in their slime, and pcf- 
itively packed together in the crevices and fissures of the rocks. My subse- 
quent experience has done much to convince me that my theory is correct. 
The black bass appear in the waters of the Cayuga Lake in April. They make 
their beds and spawn between May 10th and June 20th, and disappear in No- 
vember. The trolling commences in the early part of May, and continues 
until July 1st, after which time we find great annoyance from the weeds. 

"In the Seneca and Canandaigua Lakes the bass make their appearance 
at a later date — usually about the middle of May — and spawn between June 
10th and July 25th. This is the best time to take them. They locate in 
great numbers upon shoals and bars where there are large boulders. The 
Seneca Lake, unlike other lakes in this region, is very deep. It has a clean 
beach and bottom ; no weeds or grass except in the little coves and bays. In 
these places we find small patches of grass filled with all sorts of small fry, 
and it is about these grass patches that Ave have the finest sport in August 
and the fore part of September. By the 1st of October the bass have disap- 
peared from their usual haunts, and the next we hear from them is at the 
'Bass Grounds,' near Big Stream, where they congregate in immense num- 
bers about the middle of October. The manner of fishing is with the hand- 
line and rod and line, using crawfish and minnows for bait. Hundreds are 
taken in a day in this place. This sport continues until the middle of No- 
vember, when it ceases. The appearance of the bass in this locality I con- 
sider as another fact in corroboration of my theory. The shore is a bold, 
rocky cliff, and the water very deep. 



The black bass of the great chain of lakes range from three to nine pounds.— G. C. S 



Habits of the Black Bass. 283 

the end of the lateral line at the joining of the tail, and has 
no red in the eye. Its flaky meat is soft and watery, and its 
common weight is from five to ten pounds. 

Like the black bass, this fish is taken by casting the arti- 
ficial fly, or by trolling with the feathered spoon, with a min- 
now impaled on a gang of hooks, and forming spinning tackle. 

This fish inhabits most of the lakes in the interior of the 
State of New York, and the waters of Ohio, Kentucky, and 

' ' The lakes which are tributary to the Seneca River are not all supplied 
alike with fish. The waters are very different. The Cayuga Lake from Au- 
rora to the head is very similar to the Seneca Lake, and is stocked with the 
following varieties, to wit : Lake trout, white fish, herring-salmon, pike and 
pike-perch, black and rock bass, perch, suckers, eels, etc. , etc. ; while the low- 
er end of the lake, very shoal and weedy, terminating in a marsh, is supplied 
with large catfish, small ditto, maskinonge, rock bass, pickerel, Oswego bass, 
black bass, pike-perch, perch, etc., etc. 

"The Oneida Lake abounds in all the above-named varieties excepting 
the trout, whitefish, and herring-salmon. 

' ' The Skaneateles and Owasco Lakes have very few, but excellent varie- 
ties, to wit : Lake trout, brook trout, yellow perch, and suckers. The water 
cold and spring-like. 

' ' The Seneca and Canandaigua Lakes are supplied with lake trout, white- 
fish, herring-salmon, pike-perch, black and rock bass, yellow perch, catfish, 
and eels. 

"The Crooked Lake has fewer varieties. "We find the lake trout, white- 
fish, yellow perch, pickerel, catfish, and eels. About forty years since this 
lake was stocked with pickerel from the head-waters of the Susquehanna, and 
they are now very abundant. 

"Our finest sport consists in trolling with the fly and minnow, the latter 
being preferred. In the Seneca River, at Oswego, the fly is preferred. Great 
numbers are taken throughout the season. Many sportsmen throw three or 
four flies, and often take as many bass. The manner in which this is done 
is to hook one fish, and, while giving him the necessary play, others take the 
extra flies. 

" A word in regard to our method of taking the lake trout and pike-perch 
may interest your readers. We use one hundred and fifty yards of cod-line, 
with from six to ten leads — the first attached to the line about fifty feet above 
the hook, the others at intervals of from eight to twelve feet — weighing in 
the aggregate twelve to twenty ounces, regulated to suit the depth of water. 
Pike-perch are taken at twenty to forty feet deep ; lake trout at sixty to one 
hundred feet deep — always at the bottom, rowing moderately. We use the 
silver spoon or spin the herring. In the Canandaigua Lake the minnow is 
considered the best bait. In the Seneca and Crooked Lakes the spoon is the 
most successful." 



284: 



Fishing in American Waters. 




The Oswego Bx\ss. 

those of many of the Western States teem with it, as do the 
chain of lakes on our Northern border, and the rivers and 
lakes in the western part of Canada, and most of the waters 
of the Northwestern wilderness. In some places it is known 
as the yellow bass, and at others as the white bass. 

BLACK BASS OF THE SOUTH. 

To the casual observer this fish very nearly resembles the 
black bass of the North. Its habits are indeed similar, and 
so are its fins and color ; but it has a larger head, and in all 
points excepting contour it is like the Oswego bass. The 




Black Bass of the South. 



rivers in Florida are alive with this fish, and it is not difficult 
to take several hundred pounds of them in one day. It is 
taken there in winter, when the sport may be varied by shoot- 
ing deer, ducks, wild geese, an occasional brown bear, and an 
alligator, and all from the same trolling-punt. 



By some called Strawberry. 285 



THE SPOTTED BASS OR SPECKLED HEN". 

This is a common fish in the fresh waters of the Western 
States ; it is also taken in the waters of the western part of 
the Dominion of Canada, where it is known as the speckled 
hen. This is one of the numerous small pan-fishes of the 
Western waters which naturalists have not yet classified. It 
ranges in weight from a quarter of a pound to two pounds, is 
blackish-green on the back, greenish-yellow on the sides, with 
a white belly, and dotted in black similar to some of the dace 
genus of Western streams. It is an excellent breakfast-fish, 
either rolled in flour and fried in butter, or in sparkling hot 
fat of salt pork. Sweet or olive oil is the best juice for fry- 
ing fish in, but seldom used in America for the purpose ex- 
cept by Israelites. 




The Spotted Bass or Speckled Hen. 
ROCK BASS OP THE LAKES. 

This is rather better game than the " speckled hen," bites 
freely at a feathered squid troll, or to any shiny revolving 
spoon bait ; it also bites at the apple-worm, white grub, grass- 
hopper, or shiner. This may also be said of the speckled hen. 
The Buel feathered spoon of smallest size and brightest feath- 
ers is a captivating lure for both the spotted bass and the 
rock bass. This fish inhabits all the lakes in the centre of 
the state, and is regarded as an excellent pan-fish. It is green 
on the back, orange at the sides, and cream-color on the abdo- 
men ; the mottled spots are black and green. This is emi- 



286 



Fishing in American Waters. 




Rock Bass of the Lakes. 



nently a lake fish, where it is found in greatest numbers over 
the shallows near the shores, and contiguous to the entrance 
of spring streams. It ranges in weight from a quarter to a 
pound. 

SECTION FOURTH. 

THE SUNFISH. 

This little fish inhabits nearly all the lakes, rivers, and 
ponds in the United States. Its habits are very domestic, 
seldom leaving its spawning-ground out of its sight, but seeks 
some rock or large stone where it plays about ; and the re- 
mainders of shoals of a single pair may be seen disporting to- 
gether, gay and lively, while watching the bottom for such 
ground-bait as angle-worms, and the surface for flies and 
grasshoppers. This tiny gormandizer is a great annoyance 
to fishers with the fly or worm when it becomes numerous in 
a trout-pond, for it will take both the worm and the fly ; and, 
besides, it will steal the trout-eggs from the spawning-beds. 
But it affords ladies and children much sport, and is, withal, 
an excellent pan-fish ; and as it affords good sport for school- 
boys, it should be tolerated. It never attains to more than 
half a pound weight ; but the buffalo, a Western fish, which 
is similar to the sjDOtted bass, is sometimes mistaken for this 
fish, and in some waters ranges from half a pound to nearly 
five pounds. The sunfish is dark greenish -brown on the 
back, greenish-yellow on the sides, lower end of gill tipped 



Geeedy Small-fey. 



287 







The Sunfish. 



with red, and the belly orange and gold. It is to be fished 
for with perch tackle and very small hooks. 



THE PEECH. 

This fish is the head of the families of the Percidce or Per- 
co'ldes of Cuvier. The preoperculum is denticulated, the oper- 
culum is produced behind into a flattened spine, the infra- 
orbitals are obscurely denticulated, and the tongue is smooth. 
This is the common fresh-water perch — the Perca proper. It 
is so common in American waters that a description is scarce- 
ly necessary. It is a very voracious fish, will bite to the ar- 
tificial fly, and the red ibis is its weakness, while it seems 
equally well pleased with any bait which the angler may 
adopt or change to. Its weight is usually about half a pound, 
though three-pounders are not uncommon, while it sometimes 
scales as high as seven pounds, but rarely except in the large 
lakes. 




The Perch. — Perca. 



288 Fishing in Amebic an Waters. 

In Europe it is found desirable to cultivate this fish, as it 
is very prolific and an excellent pan-fish ; but in America, 
where it is no trick to take half a bushel a day on the ponds 
in the immediate vicinity of the city of New York, it is not 
deemed worth while to encourage its propagation. Indeed, 
so great a scourge is it regarded on Long Island, that poach- 
ers having a grudge against an owner of a trout-pond go in 
the night-time and stock it with perch. 

Of the fishes belonging to this order there are over twenty 
families, including the numerous kinds of bass, and nearly all 
of those fishes of fresh waters with the first dorsal spiked or 
spinous rayed. Of these families there is scarcely a fresh- 
water river or lake on earth which does not contain a repre- 
sentative. 

The ovarium of a perch is one fourth the weight of the 
fish ; and a pound perch has been known to contain 992,000 
eggs. 

THE GLASS-EYED OR AV ALL-EYED PIKEl 

This is one of the fishes of the Middle and Northern States. 
At the Southwest it is called wall-eyed, while at the North it 
is known as the glass-eyed pike, and by other local and un- 
important names, such as the pike-perch, sand-pike, etc. But 
its eyes being the most distinctive mark, it is more generally 
known by the names given at the heading than by any other. 
It sometimes attains to a very great weight. Doctor Buel 
took one in the Kentucky Biver which weighed nearly fifty 
pounds. 

They are found in all the tributaries of the Ohio River, in 
the range of great lakes, and most of the rivers and lakes as 
far east as New York, south as far as Tennessee, and west as 
far as Wisconsin. They also inhabit many of the waters in 
the western part of the Dominion of Canada. In Cayuga, 
Seneca, and other lakes of the western part of New York they 
are often taken, sometimes weighing as high as forty pounds. 
In Oneida Lake they are numerous ; in fact, the glass-eyed 



Various in Shape and Colors. 289 

pike is one of the most important commercial fishes of the 
lakes. 




The Glass-eyed or Wall-eyed Pike. 

The glass-eyed pike of the rivers in New York is very sat- 
isfying game to the angler. He prefers the live shiner as a 
bait, and is generally found at the foot of a rapid, watching 
for any lame or disconcerted fish which appears not to know 
how to take care of itself. The best way to angle for them, 
therefore, is to anchor your boat at the side or above a rapid ; 
use shiner bait, and cast to the foot of the rapid, or let your 
bait run down the rapid, for they sometimes lie behind huge 
rocks in the rapid. Use regular striped-bass tackle and fish 
with a float. The pike of the Mohawk River are supposed to 
be the best for the table. Th3 meat is hard, and laminates 
in rich flakes, possessing a peculiar flavor most tempting as a 
breakfast dish. Those fish which run from three to nine 
pounds are the best for the table ; but they have been taken 
at the Little Falls to the weight of nearly twenty pounds, 
and proved to be a superior fish for stuffing and baking. 

The scales of the glass-eyed pike are hard, close, and diffi- 
cult to detach. The mandibles are wider and the jaws 
stronger than those of the pike or pickerel, while its teeth are 
shorter and closer set. It is dark gray, with greenish tint on 
the back, gray sides with yellowish tinge, and white abdo- 
men. The numerous shoals of this fish in American waters 
renders it common and unappreciated, but it is really one of 
the best table-fishes of the rivers. 

There is another family of glass-eyed pike, known in Ohio 
and Western Virginia as the salmon. It resembles the pike 

T 



290 



Fishing in American Waters. 



of the Mohawk by being bluish-black on the back, bluish-gray 
sides, and white belly. It is found in the Kanawha and Mi- 
ami Rivers, as also in many other streams of Ohio. 



THE WHITEFISH. 

This sucker-mouthed, succulent delicacy is to be found in 
most of the small lakes in the middle of the State of New 
York, where it forages near the springs which gush from the 
bottom, so that its meat is pure, white, juicy, and possessed 
of a most delicate flavor. The color of the back is gray, and 
the rest of the fish a clear white of most lustrous sheen. The 
great lakes from Ontario to Superior produce millions annu- 
ally, and it is supposed the fish near the north shores are su- 
perior to those on the south side of the lakes, because a great- 
er number of cold spring streams debouch in the lakes on the 
north side. The whitefish is leather-mouthed, and sometimes 
takes the spoon or spinning bait. In weight it runs from 
three to nine pounds, and there is less waste in it than in any 
other fish of its size. The engraving is a copy sketched from 
still life by Walter Bracket, Esq., a Boston artist of merit. 




The Whitefish. — Corregonus alosa or albus. 

It is eminently an economical fish, requiring no butter to 
fry it ; but, of course, those persons who unite a little knowl- 
edge of hygiene with gastronomy never fry any but the 



Another breakfast Delicacy,, 291 

smallest kinds of pan-fishes. This is a broiler as truly as is a 
shad or a Spanish mackerel. 

Though an abdominal, it does not belong to the genus Sal- 
mo any moi'e than does the smelt, which some ichthyologists 
classify with that genus, though the smelt spawns in spring, 
and the whitefish late in summer or early in autumn. 

Whitefish are taken with nets and placed in fish-pounds in 
the fall, confined by water-fencing with nets or stone, whence 
they are taken with large scap-nets and sent to market. The 
new process of dry-freezing is being resorted to at the West, 
so as to enable the netters to take them in the season when 
they are best for the table, and preserve them in a certain 
stage of refrigeration until it is thought desirable to market 
them. This is the preferable method, because, when confined 
in pounds, closely packed, many of them get frozen, being 
thus rendered unmarketable by reason of their slow death. 
In the winter of 1868 there were 500 lost from one pound 
near Detroit by freezing. The pound system should be abol- 
ished by law. 

" The fisher stakes his net and weir 
The persecuted shoals to snare ; 
The seiner runs his seines around, 
Where'er their shining scales abound : 
Then, dragging to the neighboring shore, 
The white sands strew with ample store ; 
Yet, spite of foe, and net, and seine, 
Unnumbered myriads yet remain." — Isaac M'Lellan. 

THE LAKE HERRING. 

The herring belongs to the Clupeidce family of fishes, and 
is the fifth and last division of the u Malacopterggie?is abclomi- 
ncmx" being the supposed link between the Gadidce and the 
Sahnonidce, without second dorsal or adipose fin. The lake 
herring is quite similar to that of the salt waters, subsisting 
chiefly on animalcule. Its back is dark gray with a greenish 
tinge, white sides and abdomen, and covered with large sil- 
very scales. It is from nine to twelve inches in length, and 
when fresh is a good broiler; but the world knows that it is 



292 Fishing in American Waters. 




The Lake Herring. — Clupea harengus. 

cured every possible way with salt and smoke, from the deli- 
cate bloater to the shriveled, smoky-brown substance of a 
smoked herring-box. Nevertheless, it has been truly stated 
that " the ancients placed among their gods many a worse 
creature than a red herring." It is a great fish of commerce, 
and one of the indispensables to the poor in many parts of the 
world. Thus far, although the lakes of the »United States 
swarm with a fresh-water herring which is not inferior to the 
best British, yet it has hitherto claimed little attention as a 
fish for exportation ; but the demand for it is becoming an- 
nually greater, and the fishermen of the Western lakes are 
now beginning to study the best net and management for 
its capture. The drift-nets will probably be found the best, 
and the lake herrings — which are more delicate than those of 
salt water — will soon become an important article of com- 
merce. 

THE CISCO OR CISCOQUETTE. 

The cisco is a small white fish similar to the lake herring, 
but differing from it by the addition of a second filmy dorsal, 
and in its meat being more delicate, and, when scaled, trans- 
lucent as a smelt. It usually measures from six to nine 
inches in length, sometimes twelve inches, but rarely longer. 
The scales are white as polished silver except on the back, 
which is greenish-gray like the caplin. 

The cisco is known in some places, eminently by fishermen 
and fish-dealers along the great lakes, as the ciscoquette, and 
is just beginning to be regarded as a commercial fish, great 
quantities being taken with the whitefish by the fishermen of 



ISew Spoet on Western Lakes. 293 

Huron and Superior. A letter from one of the principal Lake 
Erie fishermen contains the statement that they entertain high 
hopes of profitable enterprises in this modern luxury. The 
cisco is found in all the lakes belonging to the great chain 
bounding the United States on the north, and in some west- 
ern lakes of the interior; but, while the lake herring — its fre- 
quent companion — is numerous in Seneca and Cayuga Lakes, 
I have not seen a cisco there ; but the large shiner of Canan- 
daigua Lake may be the cisco. Both the cisco and herring 
are favorite baits for lake trout, and, as food for game fishes, 
the waters should be kept well stocked with them. 




The Cisco or Ciscoquette. 

From a recent letter to the Spirit of the Times from Camp 
Sterling, on Geneva Lake, Wis., it appears that "ciscoing" is 
the principal June sport for man, woman, and child in all the 
area formed by a radius of twenty miles round the lake. The 
cisco may be taken with bait or fly, though the latter is the 
most natural food, as its small, square mouth and soft teeth 
indicate that animalcidce or flies are its natural aliment. At 
Geneva Lake there is a fly called the " cisco-fly," which ap- 
pears to be its natural food ; it is nearly an inch long, of gray- 
ish-brown body and light gray wings, with tail and antennae — 
probably a Phryganea. The eel-fly is also said to be a favor- 
ite lure ; but the cisco and cisco-fly both appear in great num- 
bers at the same time. 

The cisco is said to be excellent game of its size, and will 
rise as vigorously as a brook trout, often meeting the fly be- 
fore it touches the water. They should be fished for with a 
single-handed fly-rod, like the trout ; though a sixteen feet 
perch-rod is recommended, as perch and small black bass oc- 



294 Fishing in American Waters. 

cupy the same feeding-gi-ounds, and often rise to the fly or 
take the bait. The cisco of the great lakes resembles an ale- 
wife, and sometimes attains the weight of three pounds. 

THE SHINEK. 

This tiny Avhite fish, with scales of metallic lustre, is from 
two to four inches long, and the best bait-fish which belongs 
to the fresh waters of America, where it is found in most of 
the brooks, rivers, and lakes of the north temperate zone. It 
is a greedy biter, and with a bit of angle-worm covering the 
point of a minnow-hook it is taken as fast as it can be drawn 
out with a supple willow wand. While fishing in rivers for 
black bass, I have moored one end of my scull-boat at the 
shore, and sat my waiter at catching shiners at the shore-end 
of the boat, while I took black bass with the shiner-bait at 
the other end. 




The Shiner. 



As a pan-fish, it is the sweetest, most juicy, and delicate of 
any fish except the golden mullet ; and when fried to a crisp 
in olive oil or fresh butter, it forms a mouthful more delicious 
than any other pan-fish. Many epicures in country places 
aj>preciate the delicious shiner ; but as it is too insignificant 
in size to form an object of commerce, inhabitants of cities 
are innocent of any knowledge of this succulent luxury. But 
it is as a bait-fish that I would recommend the shiner, and a 
bait-can is necessary for keeping it alive. 

SECTION FIFTH. 

BAIT-CAN AND BAITS. 

A simple tin can or pail, lai-ge enough to contain from two 




Keeping Alive to Take Life. 295 

to three gallons of water, with the lid 
perforated to let air into the bait, is 
generally sufficient; but some anglers 
prefer a double pail, the inner one per- 
forated all over in holes the size of 
buckshot. In this case the pails are of 
equal size at the top and bottom, or 
cylindrical, and the inner pail may be 
taken out and the water changed be- 
fore returning it, without the danger of losing bait. Another 
plan is to have a can shaped like the foregoing cut, and, in- 
stead of frequently changing the water, insert a siphon, and 
draw the water up and let it fall back into the can, which 
aerates the water and revives the bait. In carrying young 
trout to stock streams, the cans may be of either wood or tin, 
but they should be constructed with a pump to aerate the 
water. Clean swamp-moss, and a small piece of ice in moss, 
should always be placed in the water for conveying live fish 
several miles in warm weather. 

SPINNING BAITS. 

Spinning baits for trolling on all fresh waters have proved 
the most successful for nearly all the game fishes which in- 
habit them. I incline to the opinion that, if spinning minnow 
squids could be made strong enough for trolling with along 
our coasts and in our estuaries, all the surface-feeding fish 
of those waters might be taken in greater numbers than they 
are now by casting menhaden bait, and by all other fish- 
ing appliances except the set-nets and pounds, which — as 
they take all sizes of fishes — should be regulated by law, es- 
pecially as to where they may be used, and under what con- 
ditions, etc. Of course, the rig for coast-trolling would re- 
quire to be made very strong ; for even the plain bluefish 
squid fastened to a heavy hawser-laid line is often parted by 
the jaws of bluefish, Spanish mackerel, bonetta, or cero. Even 
a fifty or seventy-five pound striped bass, or a twenty or thir- 



296 • Fishing in American Waters. 

ty pound bluefish, would make the line hum some. But how 
Avould it be with a hundred and twenty pound bonetta ? I 
have taken large striped bass by trolling for them on the Se- 
connet River with a bone squid covered with white linen, out 
of which I formed the tail. The squid played by means of a 
brass swivel. All swivels should be of brass or copper, even 
if silver-plated afterward. Steel swivels rust. The leathern 
satchel for carrying hooks, screw-driver, pincers, porpoise-oil, 
and all the appliances necessary for use in mending rod, reel, 
or any part of tackle, should be framed with brass. Water- 
proof canvas satchels are better than the leathern, and in 
them hooks and other anglers' implements will take no in- 
jury. Water-proof canvas is also preferable to leather for 
gaiters, and for boat-fishing they are preferable for shoes. I 
prefer Russia leather boots for wear when trolling off the 
coast, as the spinous dorsal and pectoral fins of some fishes 
are sharp and strong enough to pierce any kind of cloth. 

Foreigners have frequently swindled the anglers of this 
country by attaching hooks of inferior quality to spinning 
baits ; but the domestic competition in the fishing-tackle 
business has become so strong that first-rate tackle of all 
kinds can be had at home ; and the Buel feathered trolling- 
spoon, and those of M'Harg, are the best in the world for 
taking the principal fishes of our lakes and livers. The sam- 
ples which I submit for the use of anglers on American wa- 
ters are supposed to be the best in use. Those just referred 
to I know are. If a plain spoon is used, it should be of sil- 
ver outside and copper on the concave side. 

HACKETT'S SPINNING-TACKLE, CORK, IRELAND. 

This piece of spinning-tackle was noticed in the London 
Field, and I think it a very good rig for trolling with a live 
minnow for maskinonge, glass-eyed pike, black and Oswego 
bass, pickerel, and the numerous lake and river fishes which 
delight in spoon victuals or captivating artificial lures. 

In baiting, put the large hook in at the mouth, and run the 



Disguises all the Go. 



297 




point of hook along the side, under the skin, bringing it out 
opposite the dorsal fin ; then draw np the fish on the shank of 
the large hook, and insert the small hook through the upper 
and lower lips, thus closing the mouth ; let the bait settle 
back so as to draw on the small hook, and you ai*e ready for 
action. The hooks, screw, and swivel should be silver-plated. 
If the snells are of gimp, they should be made very fine ; but 
twisted gut snells, finely made, are better. The minnow 
should represent a silver-side or a shiner. 

This would be a killing bait to offer along the margin of a 
pickerel-pond while spinning it among the lily-pads with a 
long rod. Just cast it as far as convenient, without sinker ; 
let it sink a trifle, and draw it along, when its spinning will 
soon be stopped if there is a pickerel, perch, or glass-eyed 
pike, or even a black bass near. Properly made and handled, 
it must prove a very attractive lure and successful bait. 

haskell's trolling-bait. — No. 1. 
The invention is patented, but may be had at most fishing- 
tackle stores. It is made of three sizes. The largest is 5-J 
inches long ; medium size, 4-| inches ; small, 3 inches. This 
troll must prove a successful lure if properly made. A whirl- 
ing joint below the dorsal fin must require great care to ren- 
der it quite free and yet sufficiently strong. I have heard 
good reports of the bait, and should think it would prove 
successful on the lakes of the Adirondacks and among the 
Thousand Islands. 



298 



Fishing in American Waters. 




This bait is intended, to represent a live fish with a screw tail. Its main feature is an 
ingenious combination of the spinning principle with that of the well-known " troll- 
ing minnow." It is constructed of thin sheet metal, beautifully and durably sil- 
ver-plated. The form, as indicated by the engraving, represents a perfect fish : the 
main portion of the body is stationary, and keeps in a vertical position in the wa- 
ter, while the tail portion, D, revolves at the joint C by means of the turned ends 
of the tail, A and B. 

It is well to have but two hooks on metal trolls, hut they 
should be as large as allowable for the size of lure. 

Needle-pointed, finely tempered steel hooks, of the Sproat 
bend, are as good as any. 

Especial attention should always be paid to the quality of 
hooks for all kinds of angling, but more especially for troll- 
ing. 

The brightest artificial disguises are generally the best for 
trolling baits. 

This troll, if made strong enough, would be a very success- 
ful one for bluefish and Spanish mackerel. 

THE PROPELLING MINNOW. No. 2. 

This minnow is made from gutta-percha, shaded and colored 
to represent a live minnow. The pectoral fins are represent- 
ed by screw propellers, which, with the curve of the tail, ren- 
der the lure very attractive, as its motion in the water re- 
sembles that of a living fish. This may be made of any size, 
to suit the kind of fishing for which it is required. Andrew 
Clerk & Co. have them of all sizes, from those for use with a 
fly-rod to such as are large enough to troll with for the fishes 
of our great lakes. 

This bait has never been tried in our waters. It is similar 
to the troll for salmon in the lakes of Scotland, and, I think, 
will prove to be excellent for sea trout. It received a pre- 



Lures for Game Fishes. 299 

mium at the World's Fair in Paris, and the beauty of its 
make surpasses any spinning bait that I have seen. A small 
brass swivel connects the gimp snell with the line. 

BITEL's PATENT FEATHERED TROLL. N"o. 3. 

Among the many efforts at making captivating metal trolls, 
the one with a piece of silver, in the oval or fish-form, revolv- 
ing at the head of the shank of the hook, proved, from the 
year it was invented, the most successful ; and, when the ad- 
dition of feathers was introduced, I trolled with it at the 
Thousand Islands, Rice Lake, and on other waters, always 
with great satisfaction. 

The hooks should be heavy and well tempered. M'Harg's 
troll was very popular at the Thousand Islands, chiefly be- 
cause it was made with a pair of hooks; but he tells me that 
recently trollers prefer a cluster of three hooks. Mr. Clerk 
says the same. It is a great mistake, because large fish crush 
a cluster of hooks and disgorge them. 

The feathers which I found the most taking were the red 
ibis. The best troll that I ever used for maskinonge is a red 
ibis feather for the top of the troll, and a small tuft of white 
hair from a deer's tail for the under side. The white hair 
from a deer's tail is brilliant in the water, and it disguises the 
point of the hook, while the attractive red feathers extend 
back of the bend of the hook from the top of the shank. I 
prefer, also, plain brass trolls, trolls of silver for one side and 
of copper for the other, and trolls of pure silver. The troll 
for maskinonge should be oval in shape, and from two and a 
half to three inches long, playing round from a shoulder on 
the shank of the hook. The hooks should be next to the lar- 
gest size represented on the plate of implements for taking- 
striped bass. 

SPINNING-TACKLE FOR LIVE BAITS. 

The three desiderata in spinning rigs for trolling with and 
playing live bait are, 1st, the strength and applicability of 



300 



Fishing in American Waters. 




3@*= 



Spinning-tackle for Live Baits. 

the gangs of hooks ; 2d, the natural play of the bait when at- 
tached to the gang ; and, 3d, the delicacy necessary to form 
it an attraction instead of a warning. No. 1 represents an 
adjustable gang, the movable upper hook sliding, and with a 
half-knot fastening at the bend of the hook to the correct 
length, to hold the fish by the lips and leave the gills free. 

Always use shiners for bait when they are to be had. In 
impaling or affixing the minnow or shiner to the gang of 
hooks, first insert the bottom hook nearly an inch above the 
tail, and run it down and out at the tail, as represented by 
No. 2, so as to curve the tail ; and, that the tail may have 
precisely the correct curve, fix the next hook, at the top of 
the shank of the large hook, in the skin at the side, so as to 
hold the tail to the curve required ; then insert under the 
skin the two middle hooks, which fasten more firmly the bait, 
and confine it to the requisite curve. Then slide down the 
lip-hook, or upper one, and insert it through both the lips of 
the fish, shutting its mouth, but leaving the gills free for res- 
piration. Take a half hitch with the snell round the shank 



The Biter Bitten. 301 

of the hook at the curve, wind it a few times round the 
shank, and run it through the hole at the top of the shank of 
the hook. This completes baiting ; and with a good swivel 
at the top of the snell or snood, a few inches (say six) above 
the upper hook, the bait will revolve in water, and remain an 
attractive lure for hours while trolling, unless a bite inter- 
venes, and then the biter is quite sure to be hooked ; for the 
triangular gang, playing to a ring on the outside of the fish, 
is generally sure to intercept the fish (which aims at the head 
of the bait) before it is taken by the tail-hook. 

Francis Francis, in philosophizing upon the superiority of 
the spinning of artificial baits over natural ones, concludes 
that it is " because they are stiff throughout ;" and that is 
one of the reasons why they do not get out of proper shape 
as do the living ones when not properly impaled and perma- 
nently fixed on a gang of hooks so arranged as that nothing 
but a bite will disturb or derange the bait. I have not the 
slightest hesitation in pronouncing this spinning gang the 
best arrangement of hooks that has thus far been presented 
to the American angler. 

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate what is termed the " dead snap." 
Of course, all gangs for natural baits should either be fasten- 
ed to single, double, or twisted gut snells, or to the finest pos- 
sible silver gimp wire. They are generally wound to the lat- 
ter with fine wire, but fresh-water trolls or spinning gangs 
should be fastened on silk-worm gut. Regulate the number 
of plies of gut to the size and power of fish to be trolled for. 
The present gang, No. 3, may be fastened to single gut, if the 
gut be round and strong. 

In baiting, insert the tail hook first, then the middle hook 
just under the skin, and finally slide down the lip -hook 
and insert it through both lips. Sometimes a baiting-needle 
is used to insert the snell from the body out at the mouth 
through the upper gill-cover. The upper hook should always 
slide on the snell by a hole or small loop of gut at the top of 
the shank. 



302 Fishing in American "Waters. 

All fishes of the genus Salmo are more readily captured by 
trolling with natural baits, such as the shiner or the smelt, 
which is the salmon's natural food, to a troll formed of 
burnished , silver, with the hook disguised by gay feathers, 
while all families of the pike and perch prefer the feathered 
squid. For trolling, the black bass prefers live bait; but in 
July he will bite at almost any gay fly, if artistically pre- 
sented. 

The troll is the most killing method of angling short of the 
net and the pound, and yet it is not nearly so popular in 
America as in Europe. An American gentleman would hard- 
ly consent to troll for salmon, and yet in both Scotland and 
Ireland they cross-fish for them by two row-boats carrying 
each an angler with trolling-rods, and the lines of each angler 
are connected at the ends, where a float marks the division. 
To each line numerous flies are attached, and the boats are 
rowed along at a convenient distance, and when a salmon 
bites, the angler on which side of the float the fish is fastened 
reels and plays the salmon, while the other angler gives line. 
If the oarsmen, who gaff the fish, get nervous, a snarl of lines 
and hooks, and a loss of the fish, are results quite naturally 
expected and frequently realized. 

spoon-victuals for long-snouts. 

The larger sizes of feathered spoons are preferred in troll- 
ing for the maskinonge and the great Northern pickerel, as 
also for the glass-eyed pike. The difference in the two styles 
of troll is illustrated by A and B. Troll A revolves on a 
shoulder, to which two hooks are first wound with brass-wire, 
then soldered. On the shank, as represented, feathers are 
mounted. Decisive colors are to be preferred, such as red 
and white. Sometimes two swivels, one at the shank of the 
hook and the other at the end of the gimp snell, six inches 
above, are used to prevent the rapidity of the action of the 
troll from kinking the line. 

Troll B is so arranged that different fly-hooks may be 



Captivating Trolls. 



503 







looped on by their wires at the joint, as illustrated. It is 
supposed by many that this rig is the best, because it permits 
free play to the hooks. In all other respects it is similar to A. 
Feathered trolls, like A and B, made strong, with stout 
hooks, and heavy, strong gimp or wire snells, would be most 
killing among such coast fishes as the Spanish mackerel, blue- 
fish, and squeteague. 



TROLLING WEATHER AND BAITS. 

Of weather for trolling there are several opinions. Some 
think that the calm after a storm is the best time ; others, 
that a windy day is best. It is good weather for all kinds of 
angling and trolling when the mercury is well up in the ba- 
rometer and there is a gentle breeze ; also when the sun looks 
with a modest silver face, it is much better than when the 
god of day is red and fiery, or glares with a golden or jaun- 
diced stare. 



304 Fishing in American Waters. 

Trolling is a luxurious style of fishing. It is not very ar- 
tistic until the fish fastens. Then the play of the fish calls 
for the deftly-expert handling by an angler whose experience 
has taught him the strength and tricks to effect escape pecu- 
liar to each family of fishes. 

Of bait-fishes, the river chub probably ranks next to the 
shinCr. It bites eagerly to a minnow-hook baited with liver. 
Then there are the daces, both the horned and smooth heads, 
which are good for bait, and bite readily to a red fly, angle- 
worm, or liver. The stone-sucker is often used for bait, but 
it has no other merit than being firm and lasting ; it is not a 
taking lure. I am in the habit, when angling in the interior 
of the country, and in want of minnow bait, to cut a two-inch 
thick rod, with a fork at the end, trimming the fork, and cut- 
ting it down to the length of two feet, and then fastening a 
piece of bobbinet lace or musquito-netting into the fork, full 
enough to form a bag, and with that extemporized scap-net 
I have always been able to scap up enough bait from the 
brooks or backsets from the fishing waters. But it is more 
desirable to carry a minnow-net on making these country ex- 
cursions. The gaff-hook, landing-net, and minnow-net are es- 
sential implements toward an outfit for an expedition for 
general fishing. 

eish-hooks. 
In the two rows of hooks represented opposite, the angler 
may see the two important bends, without reference to the 
slight bend side wise, and called the Kirby bend, which may be 
given to either one. Some anglers prefer a Kirby bend, while 
others contend that it is not so good for mounting with flies 
for either salmon or trout ; but Mr. Hyde, the best amateur 
expert in America, generally mounts his flies on Kirby round- 
bends. Offish-hooks the shape is important,but scarcely more 
so than are the qualities of metal, temper, and finish. Oh, 
how many aching regrets and hopeless feelings of momentary 
desperation have been caused by a flaw in a fish-hook, or in 



Importance of Fish-hooks. 



305 




its deficiency of quality ! As the quality of the hook is the 
foundation of the general results for the angler, it may not be 
a matter of surprise that I endeavor to impress the embryo 
philosopher with the importance of fish-hooks. I remember 
that, when a boy of seven summers, an extemporized bridge 
for carting hay was cast over a trout-brook in front of our 
dwelling, and that I baited a pin with a worm and lay down 
on the bridge, which was but a few inches above the water, 
and let the baited pin run under the bridge. In a moment 
I experienced a tremendous jerk, and pulled in my line, when 
the trout struggled, and finally straightened my pin -hook. 
Oh, what would I not have promised at that moment to give 
for a real fish-hook! The store was near by, where two 
hooks might be had for a cent, but where was the cent ? I 
have never forgotten the feelings of that moment, and never 
will while life lasts. I would therefore plead for paternal 
generosity toward youths who early contract a penchant for 
angling. 

U 



306 Fishing in American Waters. 

The rows of samples include the useful sizes to mount with 
flies for salmon and large brook trout, or to use for bait in 
the river fishings for commoner fish. The upper row repre- 
sent Adlington & Hutchinson's needle-pointed round-bends. 
This is also an excellent hook for small striped bass and black 
bass, and generally for fishing when a float is used. 

The lower row of Sproat bend hooks are samples of the 
manufacture of Hutchinson & Sons, intended for the same 
uses as the foregoing. This bend is better than the round 
one for fish with a small mouth, like the kingfish. The Sproat 
bend appears to be the neplus ultra in the form and quality 
of a fish-hook. The Virginia hook is quite similar in its short- 
ness of nib and low bend, while the Kinsey or Pennsylvania 
hook is lower still in the nib and wider in the bend, and, being 
shorter from the point of the hook to the bend- or centre of 
draught, is preferred by many ; but my experience in losing 
large fish by their springing the hook out induces me to pre- 
fer a hook of larger wire, finer finish, and tempered better. 
These hooks enlarge gradually to No. 20, and in quality are 
truly superior. 

SALMON PLIES. 

The flies on the upper row are tied on the Adlington hook 
with Sproat bend, while those of the lower row are mounted 
on the round bend, of numbers from 15 to 18. 

Fig. 1. Wing of diagonally barred feathers from under side of snipe's wing, in drab 
and black ; dark blue and black pig's-wool hackle ; gold tail. Pig. 2. Mottled black 
and white wing from a turkey's tail ; body of olive-colored mohair and black hackle, 
with brown shoulders, and orange peacock tail. Fig. 3. Black and drab diagonally 
barred wing, blue and claret hackle body, with gold shoulder; tail of gold and 
green. Fig. 4. Brown wings and legs, drab body, all of gutta-percha ; glass eyes. 
Fig. 5. Bibbed drab wing and anterinre; legs and body of gutta-percha; reddish- 
brown mohair shoulders, and black bead eyes. Fig. 6. White miller ; white ribbed 
wings, drab body and legs, red glass eyes. Fig. 7. Brown gutta-percha wings, pur- 
ple body wound with gold tinsel, reddish-brown mohair shoulders. Fig. S. Black 
hackle body wound with gold ; barred duck-wing tail ; argo pheasant wing. Fig. 
9. Purple body with gold tail ; blue and purple hackle ; tail of the golden pheasant 
top-knot; brown mallard wings. Fig. 10. Brown and white pheasant wing; gold 
body and tail ; brown hackle shoulders, and black hackle head. Fig. 11. Golden 
body and tail ; black hackle shoulders, with pheasant and burnt-brown wings. 

Asia has contributed more material for artificial flies in her 
numerous families of pheasants than has any other quarter of 
the globe. Neither the South American fox, the barred wing 



308 Fishing in American "Waters. 

of the wood-duck, nor the brown mallard feather ai*e equal ia 
attraction and delicacy to the top-knot of the golden pheas- 
ant, or the feathers of the argo pheasant. The two lower 
rows of flies are copies of those used with success last year 
in Canada by Dr. Clerk, of Andrew Clerk & Co. 

FLY DRESSING. 
TROUT-FLIES. 

Fig. 1. Preparatory to snelling your hook, which means tying 
the hook to a silk-worm gut snell, wind the head of the 
shank with several turns of waxed silk. Wax for fly-tying 
is the same as shoemaker's, only more clear and lighter col- 
ored. Then wind three or four times from near the bend 
of the hook up to the first thread at the head, and lay the 
end of the gut on the inside of the shank clown near to the 
bend, and wind with the last silk thread down to the end, 
and fasten end as directed on the page of "loops and ties," 
leaving ends as 1. Fig. 3 is the same as l,only the end of 
silk at the bend end of the tie is cut short, whereas the 
two threads of 1 are seen on 2 as follows : 

Fig. 2. Place two hairs as antennas, and the hackle that you 
intend for the head in the direction of the bend of hook, 
and fasten them by several loops ; then fasten the end of 
the duffing like 2 or 9, and wind it round the hook to form 
the body, winding it afterward with a thread of gold or 
silver twist, or a hackle feather like 4, fastened as at 10, 
and wind round the body. Then add the wings like 5, 
finishing off like 8 ; or cut from a feather a pair of wings 
like 6, and wind them from the head so they will maintain 
their present spread shape. Many tyers of trout-flies tie 
only one wing on, but it never falls so naturally as do the 
two- winged flies ; and, to imitate Nature perfectly, some 
flies require to be tied with four wings. Imitate the natu- 
ral fly as shown on the plate of " natural and artificial 
flies." 



310 Fishing in American Waters. 



MOUNTING SALMON-HOOKS. 

Fig. 11. Wind on your silk-gut loop, and wind the end of your 
duffing and antenna, fastening it all at the head, and form- 
ing the head of hackle as shown by 14. The hackle should 
be doubled, as represented by 1 ; and, after the duffing is 
wound, the hackle should cover it like 13; or the hackle 
may be heavy like 12. Some persons use a vice to hold 
the hook, as 14 ; but the best artists at fly-tying do not 
use them. After the duffing, the antennas, and hackle are 
fastened, the body is usually wound with a cord of silver or 
gold, as 13 and 15, when the wings are fastened like 12 and 
15, the head and tail finished like the latter, and the ends 
of threads covered and closed off with shellac. This also 
fastens the tinsel at the head of the antennae ; but with all 
your windings of hackle, duffing (the body), cord, or tinsel, 
carry with each your thread of silk, w T ell waxed with trans- 
parent wax, and as nearly the color of the material you are 
winding as possible. First fasten well your hook to the 
snell, and then exercise taste and practice delicacy of ma- 
nipulation. After all, an hour's instruction from an artist 
is worth more than all the books in Christendom on in- 
struction for making artificial flies. I prefer to purchase 
flies from those who follow the art for a livelihood; but 
all anglers should be able to tie a fly when in a wilderness. 

THE PONDERATING SINKER. 

This recent invention is not in general use, or known to 
many anglers. I have tried it. It may do for river and fresh- 
water fishings with a float, but for bottom fishing the hollow 
tracing sinker is vastly superior. The object for thus in- 
creasing the ponderosity of a sinker is to save the trouble of 
carrying numerous sinkers of different weights when going 
a-fishing, and to increase or decrease the weight without tak- 
ing off the sinker. 

Explanation of the Cut. — "No. 1 is the smallest size of the 



A new Combination. 



311 




set represented. In case a heavier sinker is required, No. 1 
is unscrewed, and presents the appearance of Nos. 2 and 3. 
The increased weight necessary is found in such wheels as ^ 
and 5, which are screwed on 3, and then 2 is again fastened 
to 3 by means of the screw. The sinkers are of lead, and the 
screw of 3 and the hole of 2 are brass, in order that they shall 
be strong and not corrode. I can not recommend them for 
the heavy fish of our bays and estuaries, as they are liable to 
unscrew on the bottom and in a strong tide ; but as sinkers 
for float-fishing, no invention, I think, could be more oppor- 
tune. They are to be found at the principal fishing-tackle 
stores. 




$art ftljirfc. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES. 



CHAPTER I. 

LAKE FISHERIES. 
Statistics of a couple of Fisheries on the Western Lakes. 
As I have before stated that this is not a school-book, I will 
add that it is not intended for the counting-room. The few 
statistics given are mere glimpses at a branch of industry 
which is a sealed book to the public. The lake fisheries of 
the United States are confined to the southern half of the 
range of lakes to which the River St. Lawrence is the outlet. 
Later in the history of this country important fisheries will 
be established on Lake Superior and at intervals far beyond. 
At present the few fisheries are controlled by private indi- 
viduals or companies, who have not cared for the publicity 
which would enable reporters to make a correct estimate of 
this industry. 

FOOD-FISHES OF LAKE SUPERIOR. 

The catch of fish in Lake Superior averages about ten 
thousand barrels, of which nine thousand are whitefish, and 
the remainder ciscoquettes (ciscos) ; but this only applies to 
the fish which are salted for an Eastern market ; for large 
quantities are shipped while fresh, of which no correct ac- 
count is kept. In Detroit one firm alone ships annually some 
three hundred tons of whitefish, which, however, is a portion 
of the harvest of Lake Huron. 

The largest whitefish are caught below Copper Harbor, in 
Lake Superior, and weigh about 8 pounds, or 60 to a barrel ; 
those caught above Copper Harbor average 1 \ to 2 pounds, 
and about 130 to the barrel. 

From an estimate made in dollars by the dealers in Lake Supe- 
rior fishes, the catch of last year, when salted, amounted to... $200, 000 00 
300 tons fresh whitefish, shipped by one house, at 10 cts. per lb. 60.000 00 

$200,000 00 



316 Fishing in American Waters. 

My informant — who is one of the most intelligent fisher- 
men of the lakes — adds that " ciscoquettes" (or the ciscos) are 
supposed to be the finest of the fresh-water fishes taken in the 
lakes. " They are something like a Spanish mackerel, very 
fat, and becoming valuable. They are never found far away 
from copper-mines, and wherever copper is found most abund- 
ant there also are found the greatest number of ciscoquettes. 
None are caught at the lower end of the lake. Fishing is yet 
in . its infancy, many places having never been fished before 
last season," i. e. 1867. The ciscoquette is only like the Span- 
ish • mackerel in its flavor being free from any foreign taste ; 
but it is more juicy, and, if possible, more delicate in flavor. 

FISHERY OP SANDUSKY, OHIO. 

This is one of the principal fisheries on the lakes, and the 
following statement shows its annual catch, and the means 
employed : 

WHITEFISH. 

Taken in pounds, 1,800,000 fish ; aggregate weight, 4,500,000 

lbs. ; price, 10 cents the pound, or $450,000 00 

2000 lbs. daily, or over, for 200 days, taken in gill-nets 40,000 00 

490,000 00 

GLASS-EYED OR AVALL-EYED PIKE. 

4,400,000 pounds, of sizes running from I ^ to 14 lbs. each. The 

wholesale price averages 4 cents the pound 1 76,000 00 

BLACK BASS. 

65,000. Average, 3 lbs. Price, 4^ cents per lb 8,775 00 

SAND PICKEREL OR SAND PIKE. 

1,200,000. Price, 1 cent each 12,000 00 

LAKE HERRINGS. 

13,500,000 fish, weight £lb. each, at \ cent per lb 33,750 00 

WHITE BASS. 

1,200,000 fish, at a cent each 12,000 00 

MASKINONGE. 

500 fish, 10 lbs. each, at 6 cents per lb 300 00 

LAKE TROUT. 

20,000 lbs. caught at Cape Vincent, N. Y. , and 40,000 lbs. caught 

at Collingville and Greenwood, at 10 cents per lb 6,000 00 

Amount total $738,825 00 



Fish Pounds and Food-fishes. 317 



NUMBER AND EXTENT OF NETS EMPLOYED. 

The fishery has 150 pounds or stationary nets, set in waters 
from 20 to 42 feet deep. The length of each net is 100 rods, 
and the cost $1000 each. Amount total, $150,000. The cost 
of fish-pounds are the principal expense, though the company 
has in continued use 1000 gill-nets, twenty seines, and numer- 
ous small boats. The fishery is very prosperous, and owned 
by men of energy and business capacity. 

The extensive coast and estuary fisheries of the United 
States, having been regularly worked ever since the eastern 
border was first settled by Europeans, have to such a degree 
absorbed the capital and enterprise of fishermen and fish-deal- 
ers that the lake and river fisheries were not thought of until 
within the past twenty years, with one solitary exception. 
Prior to that date the establishment of fisheries in the inte- 
rior of the United States was not even spoken of. Now there 
are many, from which I have selected the foregoing exemplars 
to illustrate results of this growing industry. , 

Throughout the interior of our vast territory there is an 
ornamental tracery of running, sweet, and healthful waters, 
well supplied with food-fishes. The working of these waters 
is free to all fishermen, with the unimportant exception of a 
few depleted rivers, consequent on their having been over- 
worked, but which are now being restocked and protected by 
legislative enactments during the process, of recuperation. 
These are all near the sea-board. The lakes and lengthy riv- 
ers of the interior are still free ; and where no regular fish- 
eries are established, the inhabitants take what fresh fish they 
want, either with the angle, net, or spear. The poaching pro- 
clivity of some indolent persons has induced them to use the 
spear too freely in our small lakes during winter. In the 
State of New York there is a law against it, with fine and 
penalty attached, but it is still clone in defiance of law. These 
poachers erect a board shanty on sleigh-runners, furnished 



318 Fishing in American Waters. 

with a foot-stove, and a hole in the ridge of the roof for the 
spear-handle. This shanty they draw out on the lake, cut a 
hole through the ice under it, lock the door, and commence 
spearing all the fish that come near their hole. If the con- 
stable raps at the door, no reply is meant to signify that the 
occupant is absent. Thus poachers squat in villages on our 
lakes in winter when the ice is thick, and spear the fish at a 
season when they are unwholesome for food. In Canada, for 
attracting the maskinonge to the spear, in one hand the 
poacher holds a line attached to an artificial minnow, which 
he keeps playing in the water, while with the other hand he 
holds the spear. The maskinonge darts to within a foot of 
the minnow, and, while hesitating there, the spear takes him. 
The great Western rivers swarm with fish, and all the way 
for five hundred miles below the sources of both the Missis- 
sippi and the Missouri every tributary is a trout-stream. In 
addition to the pike and pickerel, the glass-eyed pike, doree, 
or sand pickerel, the gray pickerel, known as the Ohio salmon, 
there are some half dozen varieties of bass in nearly every 
Western river, besides perch, sunfish, chub, bream, eels, buf- 
falo. There are also several varieties of catfish, the most im- 
portant of which are the black, yellow, and channel cats. 
The Missouri River is justly celebrated for the latter fish, 
which runs from five to fifteen pounds each, and, besides yield- 
ing excellent sport for the rod, is a choice table luxury, equal- 
ing the salure of the Danube, which is also a species of cat- 
fish highly prized by European epicures. 




The Hammer-headed Shark. 



An important Need of Man. 319 



CHAPTER II. 

COAST FISHES AND FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The fisheries of the Atlantic coast from Chesapeake Bay 
to the Gulf of St. Lawrence are so extensive as to cause re- 
gret that statistics in the catches of many important fishes 
are not sufficiently reliable to form the data necessary to a 
correct report of the numbers and weights annually caught 
by the thousands of fishermen who keep no account of their 
takes, but sell them at retail or wholesale, and live on the pro- 
ceeds, without keeping an account of their expenses. 

THE MACKEREL. 

Coasting New England's rocky shore, 
Sailing where Southern surges pour, 
The daring fishers spread the sail 
To Southern haze and Northern gale. 
Thousands of craft the ocean speck, 
Thousands of seamen pace the deck, 
Eager to follow to the end, 
Where'er the mackerel shoal may tend. 

This is one of the most important food-fishes of the seas, 
as well as one of the most prolific. Nature, in the harmoni- 
ous arrangement of the universe, and in turning all things 
toward man's good, has made the duration and existence of 
numerous families of fishes dependent upon their searching 
out brooding-places and depositing their eggs in the neigh- 
borhood of man's need. By the process of procreation, these 
fish form, to a certain extent, home attractions, and daily 
about the shoals near shore, where they are fished for with 
the hook, and the more sure means of a drift-net twenty feet 
deep by one hundred and fifty feet in length, well corked at 
top, but with no leads at the bottom, for when mackerel are 



320 Fishing in American Waters. 

in a biting or a moving mood they rise to the surface. Like 
all sea fishes, the mackerel is more easily taken than fishes of 
fresh waters. He foolishly dashes at whatever he sees before 
him which he thinks will not devour him. But in this pecu- 
liarity he does not differ from the royal salmon, which Avill 
snap at flies when out of season, and evince the most culpable 
rapacity when just returned from sea, even biting at an arti- 
ficial minnow, or a fly unlike any thing in existence. 




The Mackerel. — Scombridce — Scomber. — Linn. 



It would be difficult to find a fish more exquisite in form, 
or more important in a commercial point of view, than the 
common mackerel. It is also capricious in its movements. 
It is not always to be depended on for visiting us in great 
numbers, though it has never entirely deserted us for a sin- 
gle season. It is in best condition on our shores in October. 
Then it is most succulent, and orders for private tables should 
be made of that month's catch. Catches early in the season 
are lean. The catch of June is scarcely worth salting; but 
mackerel fatten fast, and by September are very good. Oc- 
tober mackerel are preferable to those of any other month in 
the year, for, as a singular fact in the nature of the fish, it be- 
gins to deteriorate or lose condition in November. In gen- 
eral, mackerel move away from shore gradually after the first 
frost, and they finally settle off in soundings, not much influ- 
enced by the cold weather along our shores. October is con- 
sidered the closing month of the mackerel season ; but about 
five years since, near the 1st of December, the fishermen of 
New Providence, Massachusetts, were surprised by the sight 
of the saltatory exploits on the bay of myriads of mackerel 
leaping, shining, and gleaming in every direction. The boats 



The Conscience of Mackerel. 321 

were supplied with bait, and manned in quick time for even 
Yankees, and the take that day was almost miraculous. The 
catch that season had been short, but that clay made up the 
deficiency of the year. The next morning indicated that the 
shoal had stacked arms and was prepared to march. But 
few were taken that day, and less numbers each day for a 
week that the fleet followed them, when the shoals all sank, 
as by one general order, off the coast of New Jersey. 

It was matter of great surprise to the fishermen that the 
mackerel voluntarily yielded themselves to appease the fish- 
ermen and supply the fish-casks of human need ; but, having 
done so, the shoals seemed to have retired with a glow of sat- 
isfaction at having done their duty, even at the loss of some 
of their favorites. 

In vain is the intimation to the pious fisherman that mack- 
erel are as liable to mistakes in their calculations as men, and 
so settled, before the regular fishing season was over, in too 
cold a latitude, and rose during a warm term to take a lunar, 
and lay their course for more genial winter quarters. No ! 
The fishermen believe that, smitten by conscience for not fur- 
nishing the usual supply, the fish voluntarily yielded them- 
selves to the sacrifice for conscience' sake. 

Mackerel, to be fully appreciated, should leap as it were 
from the water into the hands of the cook, and be made ready 
for the gridiron, broiled, and on the table in half an hour aft- 
er it has left its native element. Or a salted October mack- 
erel can not be depreciated by a person of nice taste ; though, 
of course, a fresh fish is better than a cured one, and the soon- 
er it is cooked after its last shuddering flutter, and its ultra- 
marine tints die away, the better. 

The mackerel frequents the Atlantic coast from Belle Isle 
to Long Island. It spawns in spring in the bays, bayous, and 
estuaries, and comes into season for the table in August. 

"Whether from the abundance of suitable food found at such times, or 
from some other causes which influence the migrations of fish, it is hard to 
say, but experience shows us that on the coasts of Ireland mackerel are 
taken nearly all the year round. They are rarely very abundant on the coast 

X 



322 .Fishing in American "Waters. 

of Cornwall — although never entirely absent from it — much before March. 
A little later they visit the coast of Devonshire, appearing to approach the 
land as the season advances. At Lowestoft and Yarmouth the fishing season 
is still later, and is at its height during the months of May and June, whilst 
in the Frith of Forth June and July are the months when they usually ap- 
pear. In the Orkneys few fish are taken until the last week in July or the 
first in August. 

"The mackerel family have an extended range, and are found most abun- 
dant in warmer climes than the British Isles. The Sea of Marmora and the 
Bosphorus at times literally swarm with them. It is extremely picturesque 
and exciting to see the light and graceful ' caiques' dancing like bubbles 
over the clear blue sea, as, propelled by their lusty crews, they shoot here and 
there amongst the circling nets. Meantime the cunning old cormorants, un- 
dismayed by the bustle and splashing water, ply their occupation most dili- 
gently. As they grow audacious from long-continued impunity, they make a 
sudden raid over the corks into the thick of the struggling, fluttering fiy. 
The fishermen shout, and by dint of admonitory pokes, liberally administered 
with the oar-blades, the greedy, long-necked throng are ignominiously ex- 
pelled, and retire beyond the nets, gobbling down at leisure their ill-gotten 
plunder. Some idea of the abundance of fish to be found in this part of the 
world, and of the immunity from persecution enjoyed by these birds, may be 
formed by watching the countless thousands of them which at times pass, in 
apparently endless lines, between the Sea of Marmora and the Black tHea. I 
have watched them for hours without seeing any apparent diminution in their 
passing hosts. Vast numbers of mackerel also frequent the coasts of the isl- 
and of St. Helena, where immense quantities can be captured. I have taken 
them with the hook and line until literally tired of hauling up and unhook- 
ing, baiting with a little strip of salt pork-rind, and throwing biscuit-dust 
overboard as an attraction. These fish, although of excellent flavor, are 
rarely more than seven or eight inches long, and are much like the shiners, 
or young mackerel, found abundantly on the English coast during the sum- 
mer months; while in British waters, from fourteen to sixteen inches in 
length, and two pounds in weight, is not an unusual size. 

"Much importance appears in past times to have been attached to the 
sale of mackerel in London, as we find that a law was passed in the year 
1098 legalizing their being vended by a 'cry' on Sunday, which custom, as 
we know, still continues. 

" There are several modes by which the capture of the mackerel is effected. 
Seines, or long nets furnished with corks at the top and leads at the bottom, 
are dexterously carried by fast boats round the advancing shoal of fish, which 
is inclosed as within a ' pound. ' The ends of the net are now secured, and 
the fish either taken from within the inclosure with a smaller net, or drawn 
to the surface in the ' bunts' or bags formed in the larger seines, when the 
leaping, struggling fish are dipped up literally by basketfuls (by men stationed 
on the gunwale of the boat for the purpose) and thrown into a compartment 
provided for their reception. Great numbers are at times taken in ground 
seines or nets, which, although somewhat like those above described, are 
smaller, and so arranged as to be dragged to the beach with their contents. 
' Trammel' and ' drift' nets may be compared to curtains suspended in mid- 
water, and are moored securely in the places selected for them by heavy 
stones fastened to their ends. In them the heedless fish, not perceiving the 
treacherous web, dart their heads, become hopelessly entangled, and are ulti- 
mately strangled in the meshes. 

"Hook-fishing, too, lends its aid in thinning the rainbow throng. As a 
matter of sport and pastime, few pursuits, I think, are more thoroughly en- 



Yielding Pkofit and Spokt. 323 

joyable than ' whiffing' for mackerel, and the following quotation will show 
that others are much of the same way of thinking: 

" 'It was evident the bay was full of mackerel ; in every direction, as far 
as the eye could range, gulls and puffins of the St. Lawrence were collected, 
and, to judge from their activity and clamor, there appeared ample enjoyment 
for them amongst the fry beneath. We immediately bore away from the 
place where the birds were most numerously congregated, and the lines were 
scarcely overboard when we found ourselves in the centre of a shoal of mack- 
erel. The hooker, however, had too much way. We lowered the foresail, 
double reefed the mainsail, and then went steadily to work. Directed by the 
movements of the birds, we followed the mackerel. Tacking and wearing 
the boat occasionally when we found we had overrun the shoal, for two hours 
we killed these beautiful fish as fast as the baits could be renewed and the 
lines hauled in, and when we left off fishing, actually wearied with the sport, 
we found we had taken above 500 pounds. There is not, on sea or river, al- 
ways excepting angling for salmon, any sport comparable to this delightful 
amusement. Full of life and bustle, every thing about it is animated and ex- 
hilarating. ' " 

Hook-fishing for mackerel is very exciting sport. A brisk 
breeze, sky mellowed by fleecy clouds, gulls swooping and 
screaming, every thing apparently in excitement. Under 
such circumstances and surroundings, it is not strange if the 
troller, whiifer, or still-baiter should inflate his lungs and 
feast his soul until the waning sun warns him to desist and 
retire. 

Excellent sport is sometimes to be had by rowing or scull- 
ing a boat into a thick shoal, and trolling for them with feath- 
ered squid, twirling spoon, or casting to them a white artifi- 
cial fly. 

Statistics of Mackerel Catches in the States of Maine and Massachusetts 
from 1863 to 1867, and the average ivholesale Prices per barrel. 

1864, Massachusetts 306,000 bbls. $18 00 $5,508,000 00 

" Maine 100,000 " 18 00 1,800,000 00 

1865, Massachusetts 300,000 " 2100 6,300,000 00 

" Maine 90,000 " 21 00 1,890,000 00 

1866, Massachusetts 250,000 " 17 00 4,250,000 00 

" Maine 80,000 " 17 00 1,360,000 00 

1 867, Massachusetts 200,000 " 15 00 3,000,000 00 

" Maine 70,000 " 15 00 1,050,000 00 

1,396,000 " $25,158,000 00 




824 



Fishing in American Waters. 




Scale of Inches. 

Herring and Pilchard Family. — 1. The Mossbonker, or Hard-bead, Alosa menhaden 
(very abundant on the shores of Long Island and Mass. It is seldom eaten). 2. 
The Pilchard, Clupea pilch ardus. 3. The Anchovy, Engraulis engrasicolus. 4. Amer- 
ican Shad, Alosa prcestabilis. 5. The Herring, Clupea harengus. 



SECTION SECOND. 

No. 4. THE SHAD. 

By the rice-border'd Southern coast, 

Where the Savannah River winds, 
The shad shoal, an unnumber'd host, 

Its earliest feeding pasture finds. 
Thence northward where the Hudson sweeps 
Connecticut's transparent deeps, 
Their gleaming myriads seek a home 
Beyond the surges and the foam. 

The Shad, commercially, is an important fish. It winters 
in the ocean, dallies among the nets in the estnaries during 
spring, after which it lays its ova in the sands above tide-wa- 
ter, and returns to salt water to recuperate. It is very pro- 
lific, yielding from a fourth to half a million eggs annually 
within the months of April, May, and June. The Connecti- 
cut River is supposed to contain the best shad, while those 
of the Delaware and Hudson are excellent fish — vastly supe- 
rior to those of the British Isles, or to the Alosa vulgaris, 
which is numerous in the rivers of France, but so small and 
lean as never to be seen on the table of an epicure. The av- 
erage weight of shad in Europe is less than two pounds, while 



Economical Breakfast Delicacy. 325 

in America it is double that weight. The Alosafinta visits 
some of the waters in France and Spain, and it is but recent- 
ly that it has been duly classified in France. The superiority 
of American shad in both size and quality over those of Eu- 
rope is probably caused by the purity of our rivers, and the 
greater amount of the kinds of food relished by this tooth- 
less spring delicacy of the breakfast-table. It feeds on ani- 
malculae, and is exclusively caught with nets. 

The shad season is comparatively short, but the principal 
Northern markets are supplied with them from Southern riv- 
ers in March, and sometimes as early as February. They do 
not enter the rivers of New York and Connecticut before the 
early part of April ; and one of the most peculiar features in 
this family of fishes was discovered by Seth Green, while 
hatching them by artificial means at Holyoke, on the Connec- 
ticut River, where he hatched nearly one hundred millions 
of shad in less than six weeks. From the time when he strip- 
ped the shad, and the ova and milt settled in the hatching- 
boxes, not more than thirty-six hours elapsed before nineteen 
twentieths of the eggs hatched, and the remainder within 
twelve hours later. 

THE SHAD FISHERIES. 

Sixty days include the shad season in New York Bay and the Hud- 
son River, during which time the usual catch is 1,100,000 fish, 

averaging each 25 cts. as price, or $275,000 

The catch in Delaware about 750,000, 25 cts 187,500 

Connecticut, 400,000, 30 cts 120,000 

Kennebec, 140,000, 15 cts. 22,500 

Penobscot, 20,000, 20 cts 4,000 

North Carolina, 500,000, 40 cts 200,000 

Potomac and Chesapeake, 300,000, 20 cts. 60,000 

Norfolk and vicinity, 200,000, 30 cts 60,000 

$949,000 

Although the shad of Southern waters are inferior to those 
of the Northern, yet, as the earliest in market, they command 
the price of a rarity. The foregoing wholesale prices are 
copied from the books of the most extensive dealers in Ful- 
ton Market, New York. 



326 Fishing in American Waters. 

SECTION THIRD. 

No. 1. — THE MOSSBUNKER OE MENHADEN. 

On salt-sea borders, sound, and bay, 
The twinkling spring-time sunbeams play, 
And white with froth the billows shine 
Where the mossbunkers lash the brine. 
Above them flocks of sea-gulls swing, 
Beneath the hungry bluensh spring, 
And, deadlier still, the surfmen strain 
The oars, and mesh them with the seine. 

The menhaden is a white fish, with large scales of metallic 
lustre. It disports, during spring, summer, and autumn, off 
the coast and in the estuaries from Delaware to the Bay of 
Passamaquoddy. It is from nine to twelve inches long, and 
in shape resembles a diminutive shad, though not so wide or 
thin for its length. It is a very oily fish, very bony, and 
therefore never eaten except by fishermen, who frequently 
salt it for winter use. Its flavor is like that of the shad. 

The principal estimate of value put upon the menhaden is 
for its quality as the best bait for attracting mackerel, striped 
bass, bluefish, and even such of the Gadidce as the haddock, 
and of the Crustacea as the lobster. It is either ground or 
chopped fine and cast upon the water to attract mackerel and 
other food-fishes to the hook, while it is the best bait for lob- 
ster-pots. The annual diminution in the numbers of mackerel 
taken within the past five years — as shown by the statistics — 
is justly attributable to the increase of the manufacture of 
menhaden oil. About five years since some person conceived 
the brilliant idea of making oil from menhaden by grinding 
them to a pulp, putting them under a press, and squeezing 
out the oil. He formed a company, which erected buildings, 
introduced machinery, and bought sail-boats and nets. For 
a couple of years, while menhaden were so abundant as to be 
used for manure in some places along the coast, the menhaden 
oil companies made generous dividends ; but no sooner did 
this fact become known among enterprising geniuses than 



Calling for Legislation. 327 

nearly two hundred manufactories were put in operation, and 
the sails of menhaden boats enlivened Long Island Sound 
throughout its length and breadth, their flocks of white wings 
extending along the Atlantic shore for five hundred miles, as 
if striving with the numerous shoals of porpoises to see which 
could do the most harm to the fishing interest by robbing the 
fishermen of the greatest amount of bait. But every year 
since the shoals of menhaden have decreased in number, so 
that while the fishermen begin to find the price of bait op- 
pressive, some oil factories have been compelled to suspend 
operations. It may be a question worthy of attention by po- 
litical economists and statesmen whether menhaden oil manu- 
factories should not be taxed out of existence for the injury 
they are causing to the public ; for the oil companies offer in- 
ducements which attract fishermen from their legitimate call- 
ing, enhance the prices of most kinds of food-fishes, and thus 
injure the public. 

Laws which should adequately encourage by premiums the 
capture of the black porpoise and the puffer would greatly 
improve the coast fisheries. This course was deferred until 
the porpoises robbed some of the rivers of Ireland of their 
salmon, by watching in large shoals at the mouths of rivers 
when the salmon were returning to spawn. Already the 
black porpoise — the most injurious to food-fishes of all the 
mammal tribes — are becoming so numerous along the coast, 
and in the bays and estuaries, that the fishermen rightly con- 
sider them one of the principal causes of the annual decrease 
of striped bass and many other excellent fishes. The valua- 
ble oil of the porpoise would be a sufficient reward for its cap- 
ture if the fishermen could be so encouraged as to induce 
them to decline catching menhaden for oil mills, and bring 
their forces to bear against the porpoise, the oil of which is 
the finest in the world for jewelers' use, and the lubrication 
of all machinery requiring a fine and pure article. 

By some such means as I have hinted at the shoals of food- 
fishes may be checked in their eastern migrations, and in- 



328 Fishing in American Waters. 

duced to forage in the waters of the United States, instead 
of settling beyond their limits. 

MENHADEN FOR BAIT. 

The largest fleet engaged at catching menhaden bait along 
the coast is at Gloucester, Mass., where twenty fast-sailing 
fishing-smacks are engaged six months of the year at netting 
menhaden, and their annual sales of bait average in amount 
$75,000. Of the pilchard, No. 2, and anchovy, No. 3, they are 
European fishes ; but the herring, No. 5, swarms along all the 
shores and inlets of the Atlantic during the spring and sum- 
mer months ; and whether it is the want of duly appreciating 
the fish, or because American fishermen have better employ- 
ment during the season which the herring visits our shores, 
I know not, but it does not claim its proportionate share of 
interest and attention among the numerous families of Ameri- 
can food-fishes. 

FROZEN HERRINGS. 

Late in autumn about fifty vessels sail annually from Mas- 
sachusetts to Newfoundland for frozen herrings. Their aver- 
age catch is one hundred tons each, and their wholesale price 
in the New York markets is three cents a pound, or $300,000. 

SECTION FOURTH. 

THE CODFISH — CATCHING AND CURING IT. 

Far off by stormy Labrador — 

Far off the Banks of Newfoundland, 
Where angry seas incessant roar, 

And foggy mists their wings expand, 
The fishing-schooners, black and low, 
For weary months sail to and fro ; 
Seeking no home, no rest the while, 
Till each is freighted full with spoil. 

While visiting the mouth of the St. John River, on the 
north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, I spent some time in 
examining the modus operandi of taking and dry-curing cod. 



Industry of world-wild Importance. 329 

Fishermen from the isles of Guernsey and Jersey, with those 
from the British American Provinces, had come from afar, 
with their wives and little ones, and early in June settled in 
log cabins, to remain during the cod-fishing season, which, 
they supposed, would continue until September, when, with 
their freighted vessels, they would embark on their perilous 
voyage for home and a market. Their fleet numbered sixty 
sail, with a scull-boat (in which a sail might be hoisted in 
case of necessity) for each vessel. This fleet employed also 
two sail-boats, with nets, to catch caplin for bait. Large 
shoals of caplin, smelt, and spearing foraged about the estu- 
ary and along the bay and coast, wisely intended, no doubt, 
as food for salmon, cod, and other members of the Gadidw 
family, besides the more ferocious monsters of the deep, 
which seem to stop at nothing. During my stay of a week 
among these fishermen, and from what experience I before 
enjoyed with the class, I am forced to conclude, with Victor 
Hugo and others who have studied the habits of men, and 
deduced therefrom theories for the influence which their 
avocations exert upon their dispositions, that fishermen are 
the most amiable, patient, and obliging class of men in the 
world. They are temperate, industrious, frugal, and affec- 
tionate among themselves, and hospitable to strangers. 




The Codfish. 

The fleet sailed out of the harbor every morning, each ves- 
sel taking a supply of bait as it passed the caplin-netters, 
when they would come to anchor at certain distances apart 
along the Banks, sometimes within a mile of shore, but more 
generally from five to twenty miles, always following the fish 



330 Fishing in American Waters. 

as they changed feeding -grounds. On their return in the 
evening they ran alongside the planked docks, extending into 
the river from the salting and packing houses, erected part- 
ly over the water. From vessels the cod were pitched up 
on the docks (with forks made for the purpose), where they 
were beheaded, split, drawn, and cleaned, then pitched into 
the salting-room, where salt was rubbed into them for two 
days, and on the third day they were spread on the flakes to 
dry. The " flakes" are tables of fir-boughs, made by driving 
forked stakes into the ground, then laying poles across, and 
covering them with boughs of the fir-tree. These flakes were 
two yards wide, three feet high, and covered several acres. 
The fish, after being salted two days, on the third day are 
spread singly upon the flakes to dry. Here they are left four 
days, when they are grouped into small piles on the flakes 
of twenty-five fish in each pile, and left in that condition two 
days to sweat, when they are again spread on the flakes as at 
first, and, after two days more, are piled up two days as be- 
fore. Then they are gathered from the flakes and formed 
into round stacks, their necks at the outer edge of the stack, 
which is usually about five feet high, and contains a ton of 
fish. After leaving them a week in stack, they again distrib- 
ute them on the flakes to dry, and after another week they 
again stack them. They are thus continued on the flakes or 
in pack about a month in summer, but only half that time in 
autumn, when they are considered cured. The cod cured on 
the north shore of the Gulf are dried harder than those on 
the south shore for the United States market. Those cured 
on the north shore are generally sold in South America, the 
West Indies, and to ports in the British Isles. 

The question of" What luck have you had ?" is more espe- 
cially applicable to fishers for the market than to the disciple 
of rod and reel ; for, without bait, a perilous voyage and a 
whole season's labor produce nothing but disappointment. 
The caplin, spearing, and smelt are sometimes prevented by 
rough weather from approaching waters where they may be 



An interesting Variety. 



331 



taken with the seine, in which case there is no use of thinking 
of substitutes for these baits, as the cod follow them and for- 
age upon them far away from the ken of fishermen, or their 
power to follow. Thus the. career of the fisherman is both 
hazardous and precarious. 




The John Dory. 



332 



Fishing in Ameeican Waters. 




CHAPTER III. 

WHALES — Cetacea — an order of aquatic mammals which comprises the largest ani- 
mated forms in existence : some of the genera composing it are phytophagous, or 
plant-eaters ; others are zoophagous, or animal-eaters. 

WHALE FISHING. 

' ' What though the wintry night falls dark, 
And icy foes beset our bark, 
And stiff our frozen rigging stands, 
Enclasp'd with rigid iron bands, 
While sheeted ice, like solid mail, 
Thickens each spar and stiffen'd sail ? 

Yet brave are whalemen's valiant hearts, 
And stout are whalemen's hands ; 

And strong the arm the harpoon darts, 
And strong the arm that wields the lance, 
When o'er the tides our whale-boats glance 

To battle with the whale. 
Leviathan may lash the tide, 
But soon his floating, bleeding side, 
And soon the spouting streams of gore, 
That o'er the ensanguin'd waters pour, 

Declare that all is o'er. 
Eight soon the precious oil is won, 
Our dangerous labors all are done, 
And homeward — homeward is the cry, 
With all sails spreading to the sky." — Isaac M'Lellan. 



Spouitng in favoe of Gas. 



333 




WHALE FISHING. 

haling is the most ad- 
venturous occupation 
known within the cir- 
cle of legitimate in- 
dustry. It demands 
not only the explora- 
tions of most danger- 
ous seas, hut a resi- 
dence upon them dur- 
ing the most inclem- 
ent seasons. For 
many years very lit- 
tle whaling has been 
done in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off the coast of Labra- 
dor, but the whales are again returning to their wonted feed- 
ing-grounds there, and the walruses or sea-cows nightly ap- 
proach, and sometimes rest on the islands. 

The Georgia shoals, and banks near Newfoundland gener- 
ally, teem with nearly all the fishes of the Northern seas. 
Fishes from afar visit those feeding-grounds, which are form- 
ed into rich pastures by the settling of the debris washed 
down from near the frigid zone. The heavy tides whose 
swift currents sweep around Scotland and Ireland are met by 
counter tides and strong currents from Baffin's and Hudson's 
Bays, and these precipitate vegetable and mineral matters, in- 
cluding the drift of large rocks in icebergs, and, being assist- 
ed by the backing of the Gulf Stream, they have already form- 
ed the island of Newfoundland, the Fishing Banks, and the 
small islands which dot those waters, all of which will yet 
rise into an extensive territory, connecting Newfoundland 
with the main land south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The 
waters of the Straits of Belle Isle, which form one of the prin- 
cipal outlets to the gulf, are so deep, and the rise and fall of 
the tides so great, that they have contributed to the forma- 
tion of the island of Anticosti, which is larger than Long Isl- 



334 Fishing in American Waters. 

and, N Y. "With the great rise and fall of the tides, and the 
consequent swift currents, many eddies are thus formed, and 
for hundreds of miles to the south of Newfoundland, and ex- 
tending to the west end of Anticosti, the feeding-grounds for 
food-fishes form a larger fishing area than any other in the 
world. 

This meeting and mingling of the frosty Northern waters 
with those more mild from the Gulf Stream are supposed to 
form another attraction for fishes, and the bait-fishes are fol- 
lowed thither by the food-fishes, and the latter by most of the 
voracious monsters of the deep, and thus procreation and 
depletion keep step with supply and demand. 

A voyage by schooner from the north shore of the Gulf, 
and turning the west end of Anticosti while bound for Gaspe, 
gave me some sights of whales in spouting groups which 
would be worth a voyage from New York to those waters to 
witness. Whales generally swim in pairs, unless they have 
a calf, when that swims between them for protection; but I 
saw several groups at a time of more than three in each, all 
spouting like politicians. Our tub of a schooner, which kept 
" bidding and bobbing" like Mrs. Toodles at an auction, re- 
minded me of the following couplet : 

"When to the wind we spread our sails, 
Along the pathless ocean strolling, 
Crammed in a tub stock full of nails, 
Like Regulus, we die by rolling. " 

Having thus spent a few nights and days on the turbulent 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, rising one bright morning unharmed in 
our tub, which seemed cast to the whales, as they surrounded 
us, we were elate with joy at the brilliant display which na- 
ture afforded in the bright heavens, sparkling waves, whales 
spouting in every direction, the light-house looming on the 
Isle of Anticosti, and the appearance of numerous beautiful 
birds swimming about our craft, which we learned were puf- 
fins, a species of duck peculiar to the Gulf of St. Lawrence 
near Anticosti. These birds are about the size of a mallard. 



An interesting Voyage. 335 

but robed in scmtillant plumage of green tipped with purple, 
and farther ornamented with a beak shaped like a parrot's, 
of a bright vermilion color. 

As the sun rose above the snowy peaks of Labrador, the 
sails slackened, when half a mile to westward we saw slowly 
rise above the waves a white triangular fin, then an enormous 
head which spouted a large shower of spray high above the 
waves, next a huge back, and finally the enormous tail of a 
monster double the length of our schooner. 

We were shocked at the appearance of the monster, its 
great size, and the enormous volume of water it spouted, and 
the wake and roaring splash which its breaking water and 
diving produced. The sailors informed us that it was a sul- 
phur whale, one of the Mammalia, so vicious and powerful 
that whalers seldom or never attack that species. 

In the book on "Salmon-fishing in Canada" by Colonel 
Sir James E. Alexander, author of an important work on ex- 
plorations, he devotes a considerable space to the once sup- 
posed phenomenon of mirages. Those who have sailed near 
the Mingan Islands have doubtless observed the singular 
forms assumed by objects at a distance, which is caused by a 
peculiar state of atmosphere, and the different degrees of 
temperature and qualities of the waters intervening between 
the beholder of the mirage and the objects seen through it. 
The peculiar mirage along the Mingan Islands is supposed to 
be caused by the number of large rivers debouching in the 
Gulf there, and, from their rapidity, carrying waters a great 
way out on the Gulf which differ in temperature and quality 
from that upon which they apparently float on the surface. 

It is stated that " the most remarkable mirages over wa- 
ter have occurred in straits," as those seen by Mr. Vance at 
Dover, and the celebrated Fata Morgana at Messina. In 
the St. Lawrence they present greater and more interesting- 
varieties of ocular deception, as at Bic, Point des Monts, Min- 
gan, and the Straits of Belle Isle. 

To return to my subject. The sight of a whale-ship round- 



336 Fishing in American Waters. 

ing the end of Anticosti, and several game-looking boats row- 
ing away from her, increased our anxiety, as the sailors said 
that we were in the midst of numerous shoals of commercial 
whales, including the " fenners" and " hump - backs." The 
white pectoral fin of the sulphur was seen to rise at intervals, 
receding in distance, when all at once two huge black masses 
ai-ose before us and spouted. They proved to be a mother 
and her calf, of the hump-back family. Nearer and more 
near approached the boats from the whaler ; and, after the 
whales rose to spout, as they descended the boats quickened 
their speed toward where they expected the next rise. This 
was repeated several times, until at last, just as one of the 
monsters rose, the man at the bow of the nearest boat plunged 
the harpoon deep in his body near the heart. 

"Laugh at fear ! 
Plunge it deep, the barbed spear ! 
Strike the lance in swift career ! 
Give him line ! give him line ! 
Down he goes through the foaming brine." 

The instant rush of the infuriated fish drew the boat hissing 
through the waters at a speed which soon hid it from our 
view, rendering the sight really sublime ; and when adding 
that the mother whale followed, lashing the waves with her 
tail and leaping like a salmon, the reader may picture to his 
imagination — fishings ! 

The mother whale swam numerous times round her calf, 
trying to entice it seaward away from its pursuers ; but its 
strength slowly failing with fatigue and loss of blood, it rose 
to spout. Then might be seen the mother's tender solicitude 
for her young, as she all but caressed it and coaxed it to fol- 
low her out of harm's way, and several times persuasively 
swam a little distance, and then returned to assist it. 

The boatmen were meantime hauling in line and coiling 
it carefully in a tub made for the purpose, when, like light- 
ning, off the whale started again, more rapidly, apparently, 
than at first. The mother cavorted and disported around 



Opinion of an eloquent Irishman. 337 

her young, as if to bid it persist and escape the wicked whal- 
ers. But the firmly-fixed harpoon held the young whale to 
the tether, and after several runs it rose to the surface in or- 
der to make its last fight, to which all previous efforts seemed 
tame. It lashed the waves with a noise like thunder, and 
the spray caused by it and by the leaps and writhings of the 
agonized mother was carried more than a mile, causing a 
blinding mist for many rods around. Finally, all efforts fail- 
ing, the young whale gave the final shudder and was dead, 
lying lifeless on the surface. Then went up the shouts of the 
boatmen, in which we joined ; but a hauser, lashed to the 
tail of the dead whale, enabled the crews to float it slowly 
toward the whale-ship, which had drawn near. But the moth- 
er whale continued to lash the waters, as with snorting and 
blowing she evinced signs of fury until long after the blub- 
ber-spades had dissected much of the body, and a sea of blood 
surrounded the ship. 

I will conclude this chapter with the eloquent peroration 
of the gifted Burke, made in the House of Commons in 1774 : 
" As to the wealth which the colonists have drawn from the 
sea by their fisheries, you had that matter fully opened at 
your bar. You surely thought these acquisitions of value, 
for they seemed to excite your envy ; and yet the spirit by 
which that enterprising employment has been exercised ought 
rather, in my opinion, to have raised esteem and admiration. 
And pray, sir, what in the world is equal to it ? Pass by the 
other parts, and look at the manner in which the New En- 
gland people carry on the whale fishery. While we follow 
them among the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them 
penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's Bay 
and Davis's Straits ; while we are looking for them beneath 
the arctic circle, we hear that they have pierced into the op- 
posite region of polar cold — that they are at the antipodes, 
and engaged under the frozen serpent of the south. Falk- 
land Island, which seemed too remote and too romantic an 
object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and 

Y 



338 Fishing in American "Waters. 

resting-place for their victorious industry. Nor is the equi- 
noctial heat more discouraging to them than the accumulated 
winter of both poles. We learn that while some of them 
draw the line or strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa, 
others run the longitude and pursue their gigantic game 
along the coast of Brazil. No sea but what is vexed with 
their fisheries — no climate that is not witness of their toils. 
Neither the perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of 
France, nor the dexterous and firm sagacity of English enter- 
prise, ever carried this most perilous mode of hardy industry 
to the extent to which it has been pursued by this recent 
people — a people who are still in the gristle, and not harden- 
ed into manhood." 

THE STRIPED RED MULLET. 

The striped red mullet, a beautiful fish of a pale pink col- 
or, but somewhat larger than the one known to the Romans, 
is found in considerable numbers on the English coasts. The 
mullets, like the cod and some other fish which feed in deep 
water, are furnished with long feelers attached to the lower 
jaw, supposed to be delicate organs of touch, by which these 
fish are enabled to select their food on the muddy bottoms. 
This fish is more gamy than the golden mullet of the Ameri- 
can borders of the Atlantic, but it is vastly inferior for the 
table. 




Striped Red Mullet. — Mullus surmuhtus. 



The Coast Industries. 



339 



CHAPTER IV. 

SALT-WATER FISHERIES. 

COD-LIVER OIL. 

_ Maine and Massachusetts 
make annually about 

- -< t-fgll== 5000 bbls. common oil, 
JMSl ^0W~- S such as is generally used 

^^^^^s^^^gwrS^W for tanning purposes, or 
^^^ | 150,000 gals., at 80 cts.$120,000 00 

■■■■■■■■■- " -. 200 bbls. superior oil, used 

-kjg/i._ for medical purposes, 
Btti >~rt{ _ / — - ■■■ ■ " :. . ■ -■ .... and made at Gloucester 
n ■ " : .isqg and Rockport, 6000 gal- 
j^_: — ^ ./: "t" _^k= Ions, at $1 50 $9,000 00 

TONGUES AND SOUNDS. 

The yearly catch of Glouces- 
ter vessels averages 1000 
bbls., at $ 8 $8,000 00 

DRIED CODFISH. 

Massachusetts. The av- 
erage annual make is 

350,000 quintals, at $6 $2,100,000 00 

Maine. The average annual make is 200,000 quintals, at $6.. 1,200,000 00 

$3,300,000 00 

HALIBUT FISHERY. 

Halibut caught by vessels of Gloucester, Massachusetts, aver- 
age annually, for five years past, 10,000,000 lbs., at 10 cts.. $1,000,000 00 

Yearly catch by Boston vessels, 2,500,000 lbs., at 10 cts 250,000 00 

$1,250,000 00 

SMOKING SALMON AND HALIBUT. 

One Boston house smokes 10,000 bbls. annually, at the average 

price per bbl. of $38 ..$380,000 00 

Do., 10,000 bbls., at $10 100,000 00 

Do., 13,000 quintals* of smoked halibut, 9 cts. per lb 131,040 00 

$611,040 00 

THE EASTPORT FISHERY. 

Fish caught and cured in the vicinity of Eastport, Maine : 

30,000 boxes smoked herrings, 40 cts. $12,000 00 

' A quintal is 112 lbs. 




340 Fishing est American Waters. 

Brought forward $12,000 00 

1500 bbls. herring oil, $30 45,000 00 

8000 quintals dried cod, $3 24,000 00 

20,000 quintals dried pollock, $2 40,000 00 

10,000 " " hakes, $150 15,000 00 

500 bbls. liver oil, $30 15,000 00 

3000 bbls. pickled cod, $4 12,000 00 

5700 " " herrings, $4 22,800 00 

1200 " " mackerel, $15 18,000 00 

500 " " haddock, $2 50 1,250 00 

$205,050 00 

The foregoing statement is made by Captain S. Treat, of 
Eastport, and is an average annual catch for the past five 
years to 1868. 

WHOLESALE FISH DEPARTMENT OP FULTON MARKET. 

This includes fourteen establishments confined to the pur- 
chase and sale of food-fishes. The average annual sales 
by each is $150,000. Aggregate $2,100,000 00 

In addition to these sales, they employ one hundred and eleven 
fishing-smacks, the average annual catches by each amount- 
ing to $12,000, or an aggregate of. 1,332,000 00 

$3,432,000 00 

SCOLLOPS. 

The trade in scollops is annually increasing, but, like the other 
vast water-fields of Crustacea, the business is still embryotic 
and the trade undeveloped. East Greenwich, R. I., sup- 
plies 100 gallons daily for half the year, or 18,200 gallons 
at75 cents 13,650 00 

Southport, Matatuck, Cutchogue, and Jamesport, on Long Isl- 
and, supply in the aggregate six months 18,200 gallons at 

75 cents.............. 13,650 00 

$27,300 00 

SOFT-SHELL CLAMS. 

Comstock & Co., of Fulton Market, sold last year 3,250,000 for $S000. It 
is estimated that this is about one sixth of the aggregate annual sale in 
the United States, which would render the sum total $48,000 00 

I could not get an estimate on the business done in hard 
clams, though it is nearly or quite as lai*ge as that in soft 
shells. 

SMELTS. 

Trade in smelts is confined to six months, or to the inclement 
season of the year, for which time the sales in Fulton Mar- 
ket averaged 1,352,000 at 16 cents $216,320 00 



A Chesapeake Industry. 341 

SALMON, FRESH AND SALTED. 

One Boston house sells annually 10,000 bbls. salmon, the fresh 

and salted fish averaging per bbl. $38 $380,000 00 

100,000 bbls. herrings, cured and smoked in the manner of Yar- 
mouth bloaters, $10 per bbl 1,000,000 00 

THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 

Of the delicious bivalve which " gets out of bed to be tucked in," it is impos- 
sible to arrive at an appropriate estimate of all which are canned for the 
interior trade, and those sold in the shell for consumption in the Atlantic 
States ; but of the trade from Virginia to Massachusetts, it is computed 
by the largest dealers in the industry that about 50,000,000 bushels are an- 
nually sold at 50 cents per bushel $25,000,000 00 

The following, copied from the Baltimore report of the in- 
dustry in that single city for the past year, may give some 
idea of the importance of this crustaceous bivalve : 

OYSTERS AND CANNED GOODS. 

This trade has been in fair activity throughout the year. The number of 
houses prosecuting it now reaches about seventy-three, of which some forty 
are strictly in the packing trade. The hands employed equal probably 5000 
of both sexes in the various departments of shucking, packing, peeling, pre- 
serving, etc. Six to eight million bushels of oysters are consumed, one third 
of which are packed raw, and the balance hermetically sealed. The cans re- 
quired for these reach about 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 of half to one gallon 
each, and require say 300,000 cases to pack them. The balance of the oys- 
ters, say some 4,000,000 bushels, are put up in hermetically sealed cans of 1, 
2, and 3 pounds each, of which during the active season some 80 to 100,000 
cans are daily packed, so that some 12 to 16,000,000 of cans are required for 
this trade annually. It is estimated that some $14,000,000 to $16,000,000 
are invested in this interest in and around Baltimore, and that the annual 
product is worth some $6,000,000 to $7,000,000. 

The number of vessels said to be engaged in that business 
on the Chesapeake is over 1600, which give employment to 
more than 6000 persons. Had the trade to California contin- 
ued, the industry would have been greatly augmented ; but 
in that land of abundance fishes of nearly all kinds are more 
numerous than on the Atlantic coast, so that there salmon is 
too common for food, and the sardine canning industry bids 
fair to supersede that of the Mediterranean. 



342 Fishing in American Waters. 

the chesapeake bat fishery. 

By the following estimate, made by Messrs. Monroe & 
Genieny, of Alexandria — the largest fishery firm in the South 
— I am informed that 25,000,000 herrings are caught in about 
six weeks, and 5,000,000 shad are taken in the mean time, 
being in March and April. These are caught by from 20 to 
25 shad fisheries, giving employment to about 1000 men and 
from 75 to 100 vessels. Of course, those include the fisheries 
along the Chesapeake, in both the states of Maryland and 
Virginia; yet I prefer to submit those samples of individual 
enterprise to the state or national reports, because they tell 
what may be done by showing Avhat is being done by indi- 
vidual industry, instead of trying to deduce from the aggre- 
gate estimates in elaborate national or state reports what 
proportion of the income of all the states is derived from 
their fisheries; whereas these are confined to a small portion 
of our borders, and comparatively few men and small means 
are employed in them. 

HADDOCKS. 

The sale of 11 finnan Iiaddies" per diem for six months of the year in 

New York averages 1000 lbs., at 10 cents $100 00 

Boston, 2000 lbs 200 00 

Portland, 1500 lbs.. 150 00 

$450 00 
Thus amounting in six months for those three cities to $81,900 00 

It is stated by competent authority that 3000 lbs. of "fin- 
nan haddiei'' per day for six months in the year are cured in 
Portland, Maine, and that more than half of them are sold in 
the Dominion of Canada. It is becoming so large an indus- 
try in the United States that a brief account of its origin may 
prove interesting. 

FINDON HADDOCKS. 

The luxury known as "finnan haddies" was first cured at 
Findon, near Aberdeen, in Scotland. I can not learn when 



Yankee Invention of Dry-freezing. 343 

the industry was begun, but am informed that it was such a 
favorite dish with George IV. that it was constantly on his 
breakfast-table during the winter. 

The curing of haddocks by moderately salting them and 
then smoking them over a smudge made of smothered peat 
was an invention of some pretty Scotch woman with — like 
most of her countrymen of both sexes — more brains and loy- 
alty than money. She was, withal, a woman with an excel- 
lent goiit, as her invention proved; for she had not followed 
the business long before many persons usurped her invention, 
and, instead of smoking them over the pure peat-reek fires, 
they used green wood of any kind that would make a smoke. 
Thus the Findon haddocks lost favor in some quarters ; yet, 
poor as it was made by bad smoking, there was still left a de- 
gree of delicacy, and the flavor was still so much admired as 
to divide the interest with the Yarmouth bloater as a break- 
fast-fish. Finally, as the " schoolmaster abroad" ascertained 
that the waters on our Eastern coast teem with haddocks, he 
intimated their value as a breakfast luxury, when several mem- 
bers of Brother Jonathan's family were not long in seeing the 
point of interest in the question. The result is that, within 
the past five years, no industry has grown faster, according to 
its pasture of short capital, than has the manufacture and 
trade in Findon haddocks, the annual amount of which in the 
United States is not much short of half a million of dollars. 

PRESERVING POOD-FISHES FRESH. 

The Yankee invention for refrigerating salmon in an at- 
mosphere of such a degree of cold as is desired, and from 
which all dampness is excluded, has greatly increased the 
amount of consumption of fresh salmon in the border cities 
of the United States within the past three years. Already 
the Canadians are profiting by an invention which their prox- 
imity to salmon-waters renders of immense utility to them. 
This invention requires to be used when the fish are entirely 
fresh, and have not been much handled. It consists simply 



su 



Fishing in American Waters. 



in placing the fish in the dry refrigerator the day that they 
are caught, and the sooner after they leave the aqueous ele- 
ment the better. Already the refrigerating process is in op- 
eration on railroads for the transmission of meats, fish, and 
fruits. 

Of numerous other fishes than the salmon which are sold 
in a fresh condition, no reliable estimate can be made. They 
include thousands of tons of striped bass, cero, bonita, Span- 
ish mackerel, sea bass, blackfisk, squeteague, sheepshead, eels, 
flounders, flukes, crabs, lobsters, and several other kinds of 
coast and estuary fishes. It is, however, safe to state that 
they include more than half the number of pounds offish con- 
sumed by the inhabitants of the states on the Atlantic border, 
and amounting annually to a value of many millions of dol- 
lars. Throughout winter the netting of striped bass is pur- 
sued along the shores of bays, sounds, and as far up the Hud- 
son River as Peekskill, taking them at the latter place from 
under the ice. This practice should be inhibited by law. 

Those who feel interested in the commerce of fishes will 
please excuse me for not condensing the statements by reca- 
pitulation. The few examples which I have submitted of the 
industry have been those of individual enterprise in a busi- 
ness which is destined soon to become one among the leading 
industries of the nation. 




art Joitrtf). 



ANCIENT AND MODERN FISH-CULTUKE. 



CHAPTER I. 




THE ART AMONG THE ANCIENTS. 

mong the many arts 
founded on pure phi- 
losophy peculiar to 
China, we find that 
of propagating fishes 
by artificial means to 
have been practiced 
there for many cen- 
turies, as is proven 
by their works, and 
the intimate knowl- 
edge of the art pos- 
sessed by so many 
of the inhabitants of 
the Celestial Empire. 

Father Duhalde, one of the earliest missionaries from 
France to China, was the first to reveal to the Christian 
world that the inhabitants of China might teach those of 
Europe the art of water - farming. "In the great River 
Yang-tse-kiang," said Father Duhalde, "not far from the 
city Kieou-king-fou, of the province Kiang-si, at certain sea- 
sons of the year there assemble great numbers of vessels for 
conveying away the fecundated eggs of fishes. Throughout 
the month of May the river is barred at short intervals for 
sixty miles with interlacings of osier and bulrushes, leaving 
barely sufficient space fpr the passage of barks or double 
chaloupes, with lateen sails, which are engaged in transport- 
ing ova." The reticulated weirs of osier and bulrushes are 
close enough to catch and retain the ova, and the vendor 



348 Fishing in Amekican Wateks. 

knows how to distinguish them with the naked eye when nn- 
practiced ones perceive nothing in the water. He therefore 
dips up the water with a mixture of impregnated ova, which 
many purchase in that condition, while he dips and fills vases 
for others who purchase the fishes when first hatched. Peo- 
ple are said to come from all parts of the empire for the 
purchase of both eggs and fish wherewith to stock the waters 
of their various districts. 

Great care is bestowed on the vivified eggs placed in the 
vases, and those having them in charge take turns in attend- 
ing to them, so that they are never neglected either night or 
day. At the end of some days, as the eggs disclose life, the 
different species are removed into separate vases, and their 
prices fixed and published. Father Duhalde stated that the 
nett gain was often a hundred fold on the expense, and the 
sale always certain, because fishes constitute a large share of 
the food of the Chinese. 

Many travelers from time to time referred to this practice 
of the Chinese in propagating fishes, but their explanations 
were always more or less vague. Father Hue, the mission- 
ary, informed the French government that a great many mer- 
chants of vivified fish-eggs came to the province of Canton, 
and traversed the country for the sale of them to the propri- 
etors of ponds and other preserved waters. Their merchan- 
dise, being a sort of yellowish liquid, was contained in a cask. 
It appeared to be oily water, similar to the color of the vase 
(probably terra-cotta), in which it was impossible to distin- 
guish with the naked eye the least animalcula or living thing. 
For some safhques — small coin — they purchase a cup of that 
turbid water, which is sufficient to stock a pond of consider- 
able size. They pour the contents of the cup into the pond 
or lake, and in a few days the eggs hatch, and by having 
their preserves properly divided they keep up their stock of 
fish. For the young fishes of the herbivorous families, such 
as the carp, etc., they throw into the pond tender herbs for 
food, augmenting the quantity as the fish enlarge. Carnivor- 



Growth of Herbivorous ' Fishes. 349 

otis fishes require some kind of meat, or a mixture in which 
meat or offal forms a part. 

The fishes are fed in the morning and evening of each day, 
and, as they grow very fast, it becomes quite " a chore" for 
the boys and girls to gather them enough herbage, for they 
are so ravenous as to be appropriately compared to the silk- 
worms when forming cocoons. With generous feeding they 
attain to the weight of two or three pounds in fifteen days, 
when they cease growing, and are sold alive throughout the 
great centres of population. 

The fish-culturists of Kiang-si raise uniquely fishes of a 
goilt most exquisite. The sea-rabbit is the name given by 
them to a species at once the most delicate and prolific. 

Fish-culture, ox pisciculture, seems natural to the Chinese, 
who conduct the industry skillfully and successftilly, culti- 
vating numerous species of herbivorous fishes, which they 
raise with great facility. Herbivorous fishes acclimatize 
much easier than the carnivorous. The French and other 
Europeans have commenced to import herbivorous fishes from 
Kiang-si ; the red and gold fishes, originally imported from 
China, may be considered a luxury to the eye, and their sur- 
prisingly rapid increase in numbers without expense has in- 
duced the French to import such food-fishes as are prolific 
and of excellent flavor. The fresh-water fishes of commerce 
in China form much lighter and more digestible food than 
any fresh-water fishes of either Europe or America. They 
have cultivated their waters, and raised fishes for so many 
hundred years, and perhaps thousands, that their system is 
said to be much more perfect than any now practiced in Eu- 
rope or America ; and as France has sent an agent to China 
to study up the subject from an Oriental point of view, it 
might be advisable for our government to instruct its embas- 
sadors to make all the discoveries possible, and report them 
for the benefit of fish-culture in the United States. 



350 Fishing nsr Amekican Wateks. 



CHAPTER n. 

FISH-CULTURE IN EUROPE IN EARLY TIMES. 

The date when fish-culture was commenced in Europe is 
not definitely known. Its introduction there is generally at- 
tributed to the Romans, among whom, it is stated by several 
writers, the art approached a remarkable degree of perfec- 
tion. It is known to the student of antique inventions that, 
in the palmy days of ancient Rome, great attention was paid 
to aquaculture, and, by means of canals cut from the sea and 
the Bay of Naples to the ornamental lakes and ponds of the 
wealthy patricians, eminently those at Tusculum, and at oth- 
er villas near Baiae, the fishes of the sea were invited by men 
of taste to spawn in their preserves, which they did in great 
numbers, as is related by Duval in respect to the extensive 
preserves of Lucullus. But after the spawning season, and 
when the spent fishes sought a return to the sea, they were 
intercepted by wicker weirs or wire gates, and there cap- 
tured and sold in the market ! This last fact is sufficient ev- 
idence to prove to the modern angler or fish-culturist that 
the Romans knew little of the nature and habits of fish, or 
they would not have purchased spent fish, which is unwhole- 
some food. 

But in the evidence adduced thus far we see nothing to 
warrant the belief that the ancient Romans hatched fishes by 
the modern means of mingling the roe and milt of fishes, and 
placing them in a situation to be hatched. They did no more 
than invite or conduct fish from the sea to fresh-water feed- 
ing-grounds and spawning -beds. The Chinese had done 
more, for they divided rivers into spawning-beds, and before 
the spawn was hatched they removed it to hatching-vases. 

Among the articles exhumed from Pompeii and Hercula- 



Commencement of Oyster-culture. 351 

neum, stored in the Treasury at Naples, I saw a glass vase of 
fish-eggs similar to those of the genus Scdmo. Those eggs 
and their mode of preservation induced me to believe that a 
higher class of men inhabited Italy seventeen hundred years 
ago than do now in this iron age of intelligence. Is it not 
true that aggregations of high intellects — like celestial nebu- 
lae, or the focal coruscation of rays of light and heat — cluster 
at different times on different parts of the earth, to reflect in- 
tellectual light to guide coming generations ? 

Well, it is stated that the inventions in ancient Rome, first 
devised to pamper the children of luxury, afterward were 
employed to supply subsistence to the nation. Des viviers 
having stocked their preserves with many ornamental fishes, 
whose graceful gambols, beautiful forms, and colors chatoy- 
antes had delighted the ladies of that interesting period, did 
not disdain to encourage the increase of food-fishes also, with 
which their preserves were richly stocked. 

But, if the Romans did not hatch fishes artificially, that 
they excelled in the cultivation of Crustacea can not be suc- 
cessfully refuted. The removal of oysters from one water 
and planting them in another was begun by Sergius Orata at 
the commencement of the Christian era, by bringing them 
from Brindisium and planting them in Lake Lucrin, which, 
according to the evidence of the gourmet chief Crassus, 
greatly improved their flavor. Orata finally covered Lake 
Lucrin with reticulated paraphernalia made of wood, raised 
at one end on stone piers, and placed in numerous positions 
for the convenience of the deposit of oyster-spat. The Lake 
of Fusaro also, between the ruins of Cumae and the promon- 
tory ofMisenum — "the Avernus of the ancients" — being salt, 
was planted with oysters ; and the plans for oyster culture 
adopted by the Romans were quite similar to those pursued 
in France at present. 

My investigations of the rise and progress of fish-culture 
by the method of stripping the ova from the female and the 
milt from the male fish, and mixing them for vivification, in- 



352 Fishing in American Waters. 

duces me to impute its origin to the monks — those men of 
genius who invented eau da vie — and who were ever engaged 
in investigations for ameliorating the wants of mankind. 
They found the waters idle, while the needs of the Church 
demanded that they should produce. They therefore ap- 
plied themselves to the study of cultivating the waters, and 
in the fourteenth century — according to Baron Montgau- 
dry, nephew to Buffon — Dom Pinchion, abbe of Reome, had 
discovered the plan of hatching fishes in boxes, the process 
described being quite similar to that now employed. The 
needs of the monastic orders for complying with the require- 
ments imposed by their religion may be justly considered the 
motive cause which ui'ged to this great discovery ; and the 
monks not only cultivated the waters, but they left records, 
of their progress, and gave us their opinion that the carp is 
the most profitable fish to propagate, and next in order is 
the tench. The pike is considered very useful to prevent 
the excessive multiplication of carps, for otherwise they soon 
become too numerous for their healthy condition in a pond. 

At divers epochs the idea prevailed of introducing certain 
fishes into barren waters. The Lake Lovitel, in the depart- 
ment ofLLsere, never nourished a fish before 1670, when M. 
Garden placed trout in the lake, and they multiplied so that 
the lake has remained stocked with them ever since. 

La pecherie of Comachio, on the Adriatic, is of very ancient 
origin. Bonaveri, and, more recently, Spallanzani, professor 
in Reggio, Modena, and Pavia, have described the very exten- 
sive eel-fisheries there. In spring, when the eels ascend the 
rivers, the fish-farmers open communications from the basins 
to the lagunes of the sea, and the young eels penetrate in 
great masses through all the free passes. Retained in the 
basins, where they find nourishment abundant, they grow 
rapidly. At the time when their instinct teaches them to 
descend to the sea, the fish-farmers lead them by small artifi- 
cial brooks whereby they are conducted into chambers from 
which they have no power to escape, and hundreds of thou- 



Cultivate Eels and Fjrogs. 353 

sands of eels are thus annually gathered and cured for mar- 
ket, because there is a greater number of fresh eels than is 
necessary to supply the markets of Italy. 

At the commencement of the decade of the eighteenth cen- 
tury the brilliant discoveries of Spallanzani enriched the nat- 
ural sciences, and proved beyond reasonable doubt the possi- 
bility of developing the mysteries which theorists had from 
time to time mooted, of impregnating the eggs of fishes arti- 
ficially. He therefore took eggs of a frog, and impregnated 
them with the semen of a male frog. This he did before nu- 
merous witnesses, who saw the live frogs, and saw that from 
these eggs young frogs were hatched, and the triumph of the 
illustrious Italian naturalist was thus rendered complete. 

In 1763 Lieut. Jacobi announced through a journal of Han- 
over the feasibility of the artificial fecundation of salmon 
and trout. Before, however, publishing his successful exper- 
iments, he endeavored to promulgate his discovery through 
the medium of celebrated naturalists, such as Buffon,De Four- 
croy, and Gleditch, an eminent professor of Germany. " Les 
savants" of France appeared too much preoccupied to notice 
the Hanoverian lieutenant, especially as his writings were in 
German. Gleditch, who was not influenced by the same rea- 
sons, appeared impressed with the work of Jacobi, and he com- 
municated extracts from the work to the Academy of Berlin 
through Baron Von Harbke. 

In France the experiences relative to the artificial fecunda- 
tion of fishes occurred some years later. The work of Jacobi 
was published in Paris in 1770. The Marquis de Pezay,va 
his Soirees helvetietmes, signalized the fortunate results ob- 
tained at Noterlem, including the information that England 
wished to recompense Jacobi by a liberal pension. 

Two years thereafter, and twelve years after the successful 
experiments of Jacobi, Adamson, in his course at the Jardin 
du Hoi in 1772, made known to his auditors the plan and 
practicability of artificial fecundation, stating that it was ha- 
bitually .practiced on the borders of the Weser, in Switzer- 

Z 



354 Fishing in American Waters. 

land, in the Palatinate of the Rhine, and in the mountains and 
elevated parts of Germany. For this object, he said, they 
take by the head a female salmon in November or December, 
or a trout in December or January, the times when these 
fishes deposit their ova. These fish are held over a vase with 
a quart of water in it, and by a light pressure on the abdo- 
men downward, the female vents the roe. They then take a 
male salmon, and rub his belly down with the palm of the 
hand in the same manner ; milt falls on the roe and mixes 
with it, when it is placed in a running stream and covered 
lightly with gravel, and after several months the fish hatch. 

The Course of Natural History, by Adamson, was repub- 
lished in Paris in 1845, when its information on fish-culture 
first attracted attention to the truths published by him sev- 
enty years previously. 

The copy of the manuscript of Jacobi was sent to France by 
German officials, and thus became finally translated. Those 
who are educated to be courtiers or politicians do not always 
read. Apropos of this truth: the artificial fecundation of 
roe by Jacobi, imparted through his inter rnediaires, the Count 
de Goldstein and the naturalist Gleditch, became neglected 
and forgotten. During sixty years no one dreamed of read- 
ing the "Traite des.peches de Duhamel" the veritable work 
of Jacobi. The end of the eighteenth century did not retain 
a souvenir of the success obtained at ISToterlem for the artifi- 
cial multiplication " des Truites et des Saumons." 

If the Chevalier Bufalina, of Cesena, had succeeded in fe- 
cundating several fishes, no one saw any novel feature in the 
operation not developed by Spallanzani ; and if Jacobi had 
invented a successful plan of artificial fish-culture in Germany, 
and if, in the region of the Rhine and in Switzerland, where 
fishermen were successfully practicing fish-culture and enrich- 
ing their streams by it, yet the world was as ignorant of its 
true bearings upon the needs and prosperity of a country as 
if nothing had ever been said or written upon the subject; 
so the progress may thus far be counted as n il. 



Experiments in Fish-culture. 



355 



CHAPTER III. 

FISH-CULTURE OF THIS CENTURY. 

o d e r n fish - culture is 
indebted to only thir- 
ty years' practice for 
all the wonders it has 
achieved. The early 
\ part of the present cen- 
tury was unfavorable 
to the development of 
industry. War en- 
gaged the attention of 
the civilized world. 
Many improvements 
known in France, Ita- 
ly, Germany, and En- 
gland at the commencement of their revolutions, were lost 
to this century ; but the calm which peace restored fructified 
genius and utilized its discoveries. 

In 1820, MM. Hivert and Pilachon, two inhabitants of the 
Haute-Marne, fecundated eggs of trout. After hatching, they 
took the " a-levins" (the young, before the umbilical sac is ab- 
sorbed) to the waters which they desired to stock. These 
facts, though confirmed by M, de Montgaudry and M. Jour- 
dier, did not electrify the public mind, or even cause a single 
government to put forth an effort for restocking depleted 
waters to cheapen food. So the matter lay dormant again 
seventeen years, when John Shaw, of Scotland, fecundated the 
eggs of a salmon, and hatched them by artificial means, which 
resulted in a memoir of his experiments relative to the prop- 
agation of salmon. But this, instead of causing efforts to be- 




356 Fishing in Amekican Waters. 

come more numerous and of wider scope, was merged in the 
side issue of the " parr question," which absorbed attention, 
as indicated by an important article in Blackwood of that 
year upon the " Transmutations of the Salmon." 

The first person -in France who seriously called general at- 
tention to the study and practice of artificially stocking the 
waters was Baron de Miviere. He urged the peculiar advan- 
tages obtained by leading the young eels from estuaries up 
artificial streams, and capturing them, to distribute in con- 
venient proportions throughout the waters of France. 

In the history of modern pisciculture a little event occurred 
without noise in 1 844, in the Department of the Vosges, which 
gave rise a few years later to much excitement. 

A fisherman of La JBresse,m the commune of Remiremont, 
situated in one of the most elevated parts of the canton of 
Saulxures — Joseph JRemy by name — having seen the trout, 
at other times numerous in the streams of the mountains, di- 
minishing so fast as to produce grave prejudice to his indus- 
try, the rivers and the brooks in the Vosges having been 
dried up by a long drought in 1842, sought from Nature a 
remedy. This humble man, endowed with a spirit of obser- 
vation, studied with intelligence the habits of the trout from 
the moment of hatching, until he arrived at the idea of artifi- 
cial fecundation, and, by numerous experiments, finally suc- 
ceeded in arranging the hatching apparatus into compart- 
ments, as it is done at this, day, though commencing, like 
Jacobi, by placing the fecundated ova in a trough, with 
wire-grating cover and ends in the trout-stream, letting the 
natural running of the stream hatch the eggs, which were 
slightly covered with gravel in the trough. 

Remy, chagrined at not knowing any person with means 
from whom he might hope for assistance by communicating 
his discoveries, became melancholy and fell sick, when he 
confided his secret to the keeper of the little tavern where 
he boarded, by name Antoine Gehin. This inn-keeper was 
to him a collaborateur. and soon became full of zeal both as 



Reasons foe Watek-fakming. 357 

a fisherman and pisciculturist. The names of Remy and Ge- 
kin were destined to become indissoluble. They unveiled 
the advantages of the discovery to a few notable persons ; 
but our two poor copartners met with the difficulties com- 
mon to those who discover any strange improvement by 
means of a switch from the track of Nature. In the mean 
time the inspector of primary schools in the Vosges received 
information of the discovery, and communicated it to the 
Society of Emulation. This society, being of high celebrity, 
occupied itself at once upon the question. In a report by 
M. Sarrazin on the recompenses accorded to agriculture and 
industry by the Society of Emulation, the proceedings of 
Remy and G.ehin were described. M. Micard, General Guard 
of the Forests, had favored the early efforts of Remy, and 
gave him in spawning-time the liberty of the brooks of the 
forests. 

In spite of the memoir of John Shaw — malgre the results 
which were vauntingly promised to England — malgre the 
fortunate experiments of Remy and Gehin, encouraged by 
the Society of Emulation for the Vosges, all slept again. 

The interest in the success of those men, whose ardor and 
industry greatly multiplied the number of fishes, lasted no 
longer than the transient sound of the murmurs of the rivers 
and brooks which had proved the theatre of their exploits. 

But on the 23d of October, 1848, M. cle Quatrefages, in pur- 
suit of the development of certain animals, fished up the com- 
munication of Count Goldstein, and read at the Academie des 
Sciences a memoir demonstrative of artificial fecundation be- 
ing the means for obviating the causes of destruction to the 
eggs of fishes. 

The lecture of M. de Quatrefages at the Academy of Sci- 
ences was published by numerous journals, which projected 
the subject into the air of public favor, and the assurance of 
the lecturer that a pursuit of the subject would be the birth 
of a new industry important to the world, decided the com- 
mencement of action. All the world was at once 2 - oin2: into 



358 Fishing in American Waters. 

the artificial fecundation project, and founded the most bril- 
liant hopes of the new art of pisciculture. 

The information of Quatref ages' lecture reached Epinal, 
and was seen by the Society of Emulation in the Vosges 
about four months after it was delivered. On the 2d of 
March, 1849, the secretary of the society wrote to M. cle Qua- 
tref ages that two fishermen of La JBresse had been engaged 
since 1 844 at stocking the waters of the Vosges with trout 
produced by artificial fecundation. 

All at once, loud became the acclamation in favor of Remy 
and Gehin, as if the echo had gained strength by the years 
in which the truth had lain dormant. Next an English en- 
gineer, M. Gottleib Boccius, announced the great advantage 
which the inhabitants of the Vosges had derived from re- 
peopling their rivers by the aid of artificial fecundation, and 
hatching fishes in boxes where they were secure from nu- 
merous enemies of both water and air. He had published a 
small treatise in 1841 with the object of benefiting landed 
proprietors in stocking their waters, and more especially their 
artificial fish-ponds. But the French philosophers regarded 
the discovery in a national aspect. Hence one of the savants 
most illustrious, M. Dumas, who was minister of Agriculture 
and Commerce, charged the most authoritative naturalist, M. 
Milne Edwards, to examine and give an opinion upon the di- 
vers essays published in England, Germany, and France upon 
the subject of stocking fluvial waters with fish. 

On the 26th of August, 1850, M. Milne Edwards addressed 
a report to the minister, in which he reviewed the work of 
Jacobi, and noticed the success of Remy and Gehin with 
marked commendation for their perseverance in perfecting 
fish-culture, whereby they had restocked the streams of the 
canton, besides having discovered a new industry for France. 
He also named a dozen important rivers and lakes which 
they had restocked with trout, concluding with impressively 
recommending them to government favor. He said they had 
done more than to stock the waters with trout, for they had 



' French Fisheries' Commissioners. 359 

stocked them with frogs also, because the spawn of these 
time-beaters is an aliment which the young trout search with 
avidity; and the tadpole furnishes an excellent pasture for 
trout more advanced in age. 

For fifteen years Gehin had been working under the full 
knowledge of what now engaged the sages of j>olitical econ- 
omy. The subject enlarged, as they thought of stocking the 
waters of France with all the choice fishes of the world ; and, 
conformably with the view explained by M. Milne Edwards, 
a commission was named by the Minister of Agriculture and 
Commerce, dated September 28, 1850. The commission in- 
cluded MM. Milne Edwards, Valenciennes, members of the In- 
stitute ; Susanne, Inspector of Forests ; de Bon, Commission- 
er of Marine ; de Franqueville, Chief of Navigation and of 
the Ports, and Minister of Public Works ; Monny de Mornay, 
Chief of the Division of Agriculture, of the Department of 
Agriculture and Commerce ; Coste, Professor of Embryogo- 
ny at the College of France ; Doyere, Professor of Zoology 
at the National Agronomique Institute. 

The decree was signed by Dumas, and in the spring of 1851, 
M. Valenciennes — the ichthyologist — received a mission from 
the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce to visit and pro- 
cure the large fishes of the rivers in Germany wherewith to 
stock the lakes and ponds of France. He succeeded in ob- 
taining several species, of which he conveyed to Paris the 
living individuals, including sandre, genus Lxtcioperca, Lin., 
the silure, one of the most voracious fishes in creation, the av- 
erage size of which is large enough to dine eighteen persons. 
• The silures (silurus glanis), with the sandres and a dozen 
lotes (eel-pouts), were placed in the reservoirs at Marly. The 
selection of fishes speaks unfavorably for the taste of M. Va- 
lenciennes. The sandre grows large enough to dine eight per- 
sons, but is a dry fish ; the eel-pouts are detestable, and dis- 
gusting to behold ; the glanis is similar to a Missouri River 
catfish ! Of this selection wherewith to stock the fresh wa- 
ters of France, not one lived to leave any posterity. 



360 Fishing in American Waters. 

M. Coste then advised that the numerous ponds of Ver- 
sailles be employed as " stables" wherein to proj)agate fishes 
for the waters of France, believing that in those spacious ba- 
sins fishes which inhabit alternately the fresh and salt waters, 
such as the salmon, shad, lamprey, and plaice, might be culti- 
vated. The advice was followed with unsuccessful result. 
In the mean time, two engineers of bridges, MM. Detzem and 
Bertol, made large profits by peopling the Canal du Rhone. 
They had been invited by the prefet of Doubs to verify the 
method in use in the Vosges, when, with assistants, they 
hatched in four months 3,382,000 eggs of salmon, trout, perch, 
pike, etc. On May 7th, 1 851, they placed in basins confided 
to their care 1,583,111 fishes recently hatched. 

The facility for hatching fishes by millions induced them to 
calculate how many fishes might live in the fresh waters of 
France. Estimating the actual population to be twenty-five 
millions of fishes, they concluded that by four years' artificial 
hatching the number would be increased to three billions, 
one hundred and seventy millions, and yield a revenue of 
more than nine hundred millions francs. 

It was evident that they had consulted but one side of the 
question, and that the least difficult. Myriads of fishes may 
easily be hatched, but the questions of greater import are, 
how are they to be protected, subsisted, and made to grow ? 
These are the questions which most seriously address them- 
selves to the student of modern fish-culture. The brains of 
Bertol and Detzem were made dizzy by the presence of a cal- 
culation which proved millions of. revenue easily obtained, 
and they exclaimed, " Is it possible to endow France with 
such a revenue ?" On the examination of results so unexpect- 
ed, no member of the Fisheries' Commission evinced a senti- 
ment of distrust, stating that they were aware the calculation 
produces the same impression on all those who examine the 
subject. 

Bertol and Detzem, encouraged by the Minister of Agricul- 
ture and Commerce, followed their work with great zeal, and, 



Fish-food for Food-fishes. 361 

established at Loechlebrun, near Huningue, continued the op- 
erations df hatching trout and salmon on an extensive scale. 
By their second report in March, 1852, they announced that 
since the November preceding '722,600 eggs had yielded 
700,000 fishes. 

From the day when M. De Quatrefages called attention to 
the advantages of artificial fecundation for repeopling the 
waters of France, M. Coste occupied himself incessantly upon 
fish-culture. He explained the experiments on alimentation 
and growth of young eels, which ascend the streams every 
spring. These fishes, nourished by the debris of the butcher- 
shops cemented into a sort of pie, are fattened and made to 
grow very fast, attaining to the weight of several pounds in 
a single season. 

In 1853, the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, for 
the object of founding an establishment of fish-culture at 
Huningue, accorded a credit of 30,000 francs. This credit, 
M. Coste stated, " is to be used in undertaking one of the 
most grand experiments of which the natural sciences have 
ever given an example." He also described the method for 
preparing the food for young salmon and trout with a pie 
formed of butchers' offal, or of horse-flesh boiled. A knowl- 
edge of the advantage of this feed was acquired by the ex- 
periments of Dr. Lamy at the artificial hatchings in the pare 
du Maintenon. 

In 1856, the subject of fish-culture engaged more or less 
the attention of a majority of the best minds in France, 
whether men of state or of science, or men of wealth and en- 
terprise. Though the felicitations and encouragement of the 
fishermen of the Vosges had not been cooled or diminished, 
yet the book-philosophers, having read up, became aware that 
hatching fishes by art had engaged the minds of sages in oth- 
er ages ; and as that was the most simple part in the train of 
successfully restocking waters, they were studying and exper- 
imenting to acquire a more perfect knowledge of the nature, 
habits, preferable haunts, and means of subsistence. M. de 



362 Fishing in American Waters. 

Tocqueville had determined that a strong light was injuri- 
ous, and that a lamp or candle should not be thrust before 
young fishes. This was one of the reasons for placing the 
government breeding apparatus at Huningue under cover; 
another was to maintain in the hatching-troughs nearly an 
even temperature throughout the winter while hatching- 
game fishes of the genus iSalmo, that spawn late in autumn ; 
for these, while young, are much more delicate than common 
fishes, which (spawning in spring) hatch in a few days, and 
require comparatively no care in the process or in the kinds 
of feed; for, as they come into the world without a sac of pro- 
vision to last them a month suspended to the umbilical cord, 
nature prepares them for fighting their way for food from the 
moment when they leave the shell. 

Gehin had visited Paris in 1850, and was presented to Lou- 
is Napoleon, then president of the republic, as quite a person- 
age, and received from the government, in compliance with 
the promise of M. Milne Edwards, the mission to stock the 
rivers of several departments. 

There were 50,000 brook and lake trout introduced to the 
waters of the Bois de Boulogne in 1856, where they grew 
rapidly. At this time many of the public waters through- 
out France, which had rested dormant, began to astonish 
and delight the neighborhoods with the leaps above water 
of amber beauties, which formed miniature rainbows in the 
gleams of the sun, and many peasants regarded this novel 
gift of life and beauty as a providential blessing on Napo- 
leon's reign. 

Reports of successes in pisciculture poured in monthly more 
numerously from every department. The waters were ev- 
ery where stocked with young fishes, which were doing well. 
The ponds, lakes, and reservoirs in public parks were each 
annually hatching 25,000 to 50,000 of the genus Salmo for 
the benefit of the public rivers of France. 

In the departments generally, the zeal of the prefets kept 
pace with that of the government, and men of science and 



Importing Salmon Ova. 363 

the Conseils Gfoieraux voted the sums to successfully operate 
the enterprises. 

Thus the great work continued to proceed with unvary- 
ing success until 1862, when the Minister of Agriculture and 
Commerce published a history of the perfect success of Hu- 
ningue, which includes seventy acres laid out into artificial 
creeks, ponds, and hatching-houses. The statistics in this his- 
tory were furnished by M. Courses, Ingenieur en chef des tra- 
vaux du Hhin, to whom application should be made for vivi- 
fied roe wherewith to stock waters in the United States. By 
my advice, Seth Green made such order in the autumn of 
1865, and in the spring of 1866 the eggs came to the New 
York Custom-house, where official and other delays detained 
them until they died. The French government had gener- 
ously presented Mr. Green 20,000 fecundated salmon ova, so 
nearly hatched as to show the eyes of the cdevins, carefully 
packed them in moss, and shipped them gratuitously ! And 
then to know that our government was so callous to the ma- 
terial interests of the people as not only to have neglected to 
make any effort toward reducing the prices of food-fishes, but 
to have actually rendered the revenue officers a barrier 
against the efforts by men of enterprise who would embark 
their own money in it, is humiliating ! 

I humbly ask, Is it not the duty of Congress to authoi'ize 
the Minister of the Interior to appoint a commission for the 
improvement of the fisheries in the United States ? Individ- 
ual states can not, unaided by the federal government, im- 
port either ova or young fishes of choice quality from abroad. 
Without the seal of a United States commissioner, the col- 
lectors of revenue have no discretion but to destroy the im- 
portation by delay, exposure to heat or cold, or to the air. 
Any authority given to United States consuls on the other 
hemisphere would prove ineffectital, for there are no consuls 
near the great piscicultural establishments ; and, in fact, since 
the fiasco of the Acclimatization Society in the preserves of 
Mr. Francis Francis at Twickenham, there is no establishment 



364 Fishing in American Waters. 

of fish-culture left in Europe which supplies fecundated ova 
but the national one of Huningue, and by this one all appli- 
cants are served — by order of the French government — free 
of expense. 

The liberality of France in bestowing ova and young fishes 
on all applicants did not prevent her from deriving the re- 
spectable revenue in 1862 for her fresh-water fisheries of 
$4,000,000. In 1861 the Huningue establishment distributed 
about 9,000,000 ova, and in 1862 about 12,000,000. 

The paramount reason for artificial culture is based on the 
known fact that of every thousand salmon or trout hatched 
in a stream in the natural way, not more than one arrives at 
marketable size ; and as a salmon yields about one thousand 
ova to the pound, a pair of salmon would scarcely yield 
twenty-five per cent, if hatching in a stream where the eggs 
and alevins are unprotected, while if the 20,000 eggs were 
hatched artificially and the young salmon protected, the in- 
crease to marketable size would generally be two thousand 
per cent. 

The numerous successes resulting from artificial propaga- 
tion, and restocking and newly stocking waters in France, has 
had a favorable influence throughout the civilized world, so 
that within a few years Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Ger- 
many, Italy, and Spain have establishments of fish-culture. 

On the British Isles great results have been accomplished 
near Galway and on the River Tay, so that the rentals of 
some fisheries have increased fifty per cent. Through the 
enterprise of Mr. Francis, of the Meld, some of the waters of 
Australia have been stocked by ova transported from En- 
gland — fifteen thousand miles! He has also succeeded in 
stocking a river in New Zealand in the same manner. The 
River Plenty, first stocked in Tasmania, has proved a success 
in both trout and salmon. 

That the gigantic rebellion has delayed action by the 
United States government is quite natural ; but one of the 
paramount duties of government is to increase the stock of 



Fish-culture ln America. 365 

food-fishes in the waters throughout the Union. Reports 
from the French government have been forwarded to the 
President, and by him they have been laid before Congress, 
so that the subject will doubtless soon be acted on nationally. 

Through the efforts of individual states, much has been 
done within the past three years. Influenced by an intelli- 
gent enterprise for which the states of New England are 
justly celebrated, each of those states has appointed a Fisher- 
ies Commission, and the following extract from a report of 
progress in one state may be accepted as a fair sample of all • 

" Of the 40,000 spawn recently placed for incubation in the 
Cold Spring trout-ponds at Charleston, New Hampshire, for 
the Connecticut River, the first salmon were hatched Decem- 
ber 11th, 1865. The eyes of the embryo salmon were first 
clearly seen in the egg about November 25 th. The eggs 
were taken from the parent salmon on the Miramichi Octo- 
ber 10th, making 62 days as the period of incubation.* The 
first trout which broke shell at these hatching-works this 
season came out on November 9th, 35 days from the time 
when the roe and milt were shed by the parent fishes." 

Fish-culture is a success. It is not only triumphant, but it 
is almost miraculous. Waters hitherto worse than useless 
may be made a hundred fold as profitable as any equal num- 
ber of acres of land, and with not a tithe of the labor. But 
these truths, so palpably patent to many intellectual minds 
of the present day, are almost a sealed book to the mass of 
the rising generation. In view, therefore, of these facts, and 
the depressing truth that the fishes of the coast and inland 
waters are annually decreasing, while by immigration and 
natural causes our nation is increasing in population faster 
than any other on the globe, is it not advisable to make the 
art of fish-culture a study in the agricultural colleges ? 

Up to .the present time the inauguration of plans for pro- 

* Mr. Francis and other fish-culturists are not in favor of employing water 
so warm as to hatch in so short a time, believing that the young fish are not 
so hardy as those hatched in colder water. 



366 



Fishing in American Waters. 



tecting fisheries by laws, and increasing the numbers of fishes 
by aqua-culture and fish-culture, are due to the efforts put 
forth by sportsmen's clubs, scattered throughout the United 
States as offshoots from the parent New York Sportsmen's 
Club. Too much praise can not be awarded those benevo- 
lent institutions, united solely for the public good, for which 
they shun no duty through fear of the poacher's hatred or 
the malevolence of dealers in stolen goods. The poacher 
both hates and fears them, while they are the principal reli- 
ance for guaranteeing the public that the laws for the pro- 
tection of fish and game will be sustained. 

If the national and state governments will unite in stock- 
ing and protecting the fresh waters, they will soon arrive at 
truths sufficiently luminous from which to form data for laws 
adequate to govern the whole question. To the ignorance 
of legislators may henceforth be attributed the lack of suit- 
able laws for the protection and stocking of water-farms of 
millions of acres, which might be rendered a means of recre- 
ation for the improvement of health, while offering cheap and 
luxurious food to the million. 




Cuttle-fish. — Sepia officinalis. 



Killing two Birds with one Stone. 



367 



CHAPTER IV. 

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 

Near head of stream, in crystal spring, 

Or recess of the strand,' 
The salmon drops its precious eggs 

Amid the pure white sand ; 
And here the infant fish disport 

Beyond the harm of tides, 
Each swarming shoal resplendent 

With dotted silvery sides. 

the want of data, the 
nature and habits of 
salmon were a sealed 
book to naturalists 
until, through the dis- 
covery and practice 
of fish-culture by ar- 
tificial means, some 
mysteries in physiol- 
ogy were interpreted. 
In the natural his- 
tory of the salmon, 
two questions occur 
which have presented 
a good deal of difficulty to pisciculturists and naturalists in 
arriving at just conclusions. The first is, How long do the 
young salmon inhabit the fresh-water streams in which they 
were hatched before they migrate to the sea ? The second 
is, How long do they inhabit the sea before they return as 
grilse to the rivers in which they were bred ? . 

A salmon has properly four stages of existence. The first 
is when it is a parr, or a small bright fish with dark bars 
across the sides, which are commonly called the parr marks. 




368 Fishing in American Waters. 

The second is when it puts on the silvery scales of the grilse, 
which occurs when it is about to emigrate to the sea. It ap- 
pears as if the little pet, when in the parr state, required some 
provision against the novel effects of salt water which it is 
about to encounter, for nature furnishes it with a new suit 
of scales, bright and silvery as those of the parent salmon. 
These begin to develop themselves just previously to the 
first migration of the fish. The scales form apparently over 
the old skin, and in doing so they obscure the parr marks, 
and the fish becomes a smolt, or a miniature grilse ; but that 
it is the same fish may easily be seen by rubbing off a few of 
those new scales, when the parr marks are plainly seen which 
were hidden beneath them. These scales are at this time 
very lightly attached to the skin, and can be easily detached, 
coming off even by the mere handling of the fish ; and this 
insecurity of the attachment of the scales continues through- 
out the whole period of grilsehood, or until the fish becomes 
a veritable and mature salmon, when whether it develops a 
new suit of scales is not known, but the scales certainly be- 
come much more firmly fixed to the skin, and are far more 
difficult to remove. But the point in debate is how long the 
parr remains in the river before it becomes a smolt. Now 
experiment has shown us thus much, viz., that a large por- 
tion of the parr become smolts in about fifteen months, that 
is, supposing them to have been hatched from the egg in the 
fall, or say in the winter. . They live in the river over the 
next autumn, and do not become smolts and migrate to sea 
until the next succeeding spring. It has been found that a 
very large proportion of them do not become smolts and mi- 
grate even then, but stay in the river yet another year, and 
so do not put on the smolt scale and migrate until the next 
succeeding spring. Thus some remain in the rivers altogeth- 
er two years and two or three months, and others remain 
even for another year still, and do not migrate till the third 
year. These facts for a long time puzzled naturalists, and 
gave rise to the supposition that there was another fish of 



Cleaeing tjp the Question. 369 

the salmon species which never went to the sea, called the 
" Salmo sanralus," because, after the great annual migration 
of the smolts, parr were yet found in the rivers, and it was 
thought that as all parr became smolts in fifteen months, 
those which staid behind must be of another species alto- 
gether. But science and fish-culture have dispelled this er- 
ror, and it is now known that the " Salmo samulus" is a 
myth. 

When the smolt went down to the sea for the first time, it 
was generally supposed that it returned to the river again in 
a period of from two to four months, and its extraordinary 
and unusal increase was always cited as one of the most val- 
uable qualities of the salmon ; for, if it could grow from the 
weight of only two to three ounces to eight or ten pounds in 
three months, it was almost a lusus natures. But, though 
smolts do grow very remarkably under favorable circumstan- 
ces, a strong doubt has been thrown upon the fact of salmon 
growing quite so fast as this, from the smolt state, by experi- 
ment and experience ; for it has been found uniformly — in 
all cases where the waters were what are termed virgi?i 
waters, that is, waters never before inhabited by salmon — that 
when such waters were stocked with young salmon fry, or 
with ova laid down for hatching, a period of fifteen instead 
of three months invariably elapsed before the emigrating 
smolts came back to the river as well-grown grilse of six or 
seven pounds' weight ; and in the instance of much larger 
grilse, as those which are at times met with of even eleven 
pounds' weight, that a yet longer period may have elapsed. 
This, however, is merely conjecture. In the late remarkable 
experiments in Australia, where no such thing as a salmon 
ever was known, it was clearly proved that the smolts were 
a year and some months at sea before they returned, and in 
other waters never before tenanted by salmon the same re- 
sult has ensued. This is very strong evidence against the 
two or three months' theory, particularly when the evidence 
supporting that theory was gathered from well-stocked rivers, 



370 Fishing in American Waters. 

where there could not fail to ai'ise great difficulties in identi- 
fying the fish upon which experiments had been tried; for 
the uncertainty and difficulty of marking a parr of two 
ounces, which is to grow to sixty or seventy times that 
weight before it can be caught again and identified, can not 
fail to be very great indeed. However, this is still a moot 
question, and it has not been as yet satisfactorily determined, 
though it would seem that the soundest and most reliable 
evidence is in favor of the fifteen months' theory rather than 
the other. 

When the grilse returns to the river, it spawns for the first 
time as a grilse, in which, its third stage of existence, it is per- 
fectly distinguishable from the salmon ; for not only are the 
scales loose and easily detached, but the fish is more slender 
and delicate in shape than the adult salmon, and the tail is 
much more forked. Having spawned, it becomes what is called 
a kelt or foul fish. The flesh is white, and the fish is out of 
condition and unwholesome to eat. It then goes down to the 
sea by easy stages, and there, by the aid of the healthful salt 
waters and plenteous food, it soon recovers its condition and 
grows rapidly, often increasing four or five pounds or more 
in weight. In the course of a few months (and this point is 
clearly ascertained and settled) it returns again to the river, 
but in the mean time it has lost its grilse form and become a 
veritable salmon. The scales now are hard and firm, the fish 
of a hardier, rounder make, the tail has lost its forked shape, 
and it has reached its fourth and last stage of existence. 

This change in the form of the fish actually at one time led 
to the belief that salmon and grilse were of a different spe- 
cies, and some few persons stoutly advocated this view ; but 
the ova of salmon have been found to produce grilse, and 
marked grilse have been retaken as salmon, so that there are 
not the slightest grounds for such a wild supposition now; 
and, indeed, the belief always was a very partial one, and con- 
fined to one or two wrong-headed individuals, so that it is 
now entirely exploded. As a salmon, it continues in the same 



Protect Fish at Spawning-times. 371 

course of existence until it is cooked, or dies of old age, or of 
wounds and weakness from incessant fighting at the breed- 
ing-time. It seeks the river every year, as is supposed, though 
this is but assumption, which it is almost impossible to prove, 
and whether it breeds every year or only at intervals it is 
hard to say. The general creed, however, is, that it does 
breed every year, and all that it requires from man is a little 
reasonable forbearance, and better protection at the breeding 
season until it again reaches the sea ; and if it is able to reach 
the higher ranges of spawning-beds, it will speedily crowd 
our rivers with delicious food, and the means of healthful and 
magnificent sport. In these respects the capacity of Amer- 
ican rivers is second to that of none in the world. Our riv- 
ers ought to swarm with salmon ; and when we hear of riv- 
ers in England, ridiculously small by comparison with our 
own, yielding their $100,000 a year, and enormous revenues 
besides, do we not feel it to be a sin and a shame that such 
splendid capabilities as ours should be suffered to be behind 
them, and to fall into neglect and disuse, and that such im- 
portant resources should be lost to the country and to the 
consumers throughout the Union ? If an American wants 
salmon-fishing, he must go either to Canada or Scotland for 
it, and this is disgraceful. We have many good coast and 
estuary fishes, but none equal to the salmon in all respects. 
Is there any reason why we should not have the best, and 
plenty of it? England and France are both putting their 
shoulders to the wheel. Have we less energy and determin- 
ation than they ? 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SALMON. 
PROCESS OP INCUBATION. 

The egg of any fish of the genus Salmo, before impregna- 
tion with the milt of the male fish, is the color of the yolk of 
a hen's egg, and apparently of about the same consistency, 
being a mixture of albumen and oil. In this particular the 
egg of the salmon differs from those of the families Clupeidce 



372 Fishing in American Waters. 

and Gadidce, which appear as infinitesimal atoms of albumen, 
enlarging tenfold within an hour after impregnation, turning 
entirely white, and the fish is hatched in a less number of 
hours than it takes of days for the genus Salmo. Incubation 
with all the salmon families is slow, the egg indicating no 
appreciable increase in size by fructification ; but, being por- 
ous, with tubes and globules, scientifically termed micropyles, 
the milt fills them, and they present the appearance of white 
globules in the egg, as represented by Fig. 1, and enlarged 
like Fig. 2. After the egg has remained in running spring 




Fig. 1. Salmon egg of natural size after fecundation. Fig. 2. Salmon egg enlarged, to 
show the vesicles and globules. Fig. 3. Salmon egg in which the embryo is per- 
ceptible. Fig. 4. Alevin just hatched, enlarged, and showing the umbilical vesicle. 
Fig. 5. Natural length of the alevin. 

water of temperatures ranging from 40° to 50°, the egg will 
disclose the shape of the embryo salmon in from fifty to sev- 
enty days,* as illustrated by Fig. 3. After the embryo be- 
comes perceptible, and the eyes tolerably distinct, within a 
few days — say from five to fifteen — the salmon will hatch 
into the shape of Fig. 4, as enlarged from the natural size, in- 
dicated by the length of line, Fig. 5. Suspended to the um- 
bilical cord is a sac containing aliment for the alevin, on 
which it subsists by absorption from twenty-five to forty 
days, when the tiny creature takes its second form. The egg, 

* Salmon have been hatched in fifty-five days, and trout in thirty-five days, 
in water 55° ; hut Mr. Francis recommends spring water of from 40° to 45°, 
while the Cold Spring trout-ponds at Charleston, N. H., are excellent hatch- 
ing-waters, and they are said to be 60° as mean temperature. 



We Improve with Age. 



373 



from the date of fructification to the birth of the fish, varies 
from 60 to 120 days, the time required being dependent upon 
the quality and temperature of the water, with the condition 
of quiet and shade necessary to accelerate incubation. 

While the umbilical vesicle is attached to the tiny fish it 
is called an "alevin" (name borrowed from the French), but 
after its absorption it is known as a "fry," or "penk." Now 
it sculls along and seeks its food from imperceptible particles, 
as animalcule of the stream and the tiny fledglings falling 
to the surface, or rising from the bottom to burst from their 
embryotic state and take wing at the top of the stream. Like 




a 



Salmon Fry — a, the natural length. 

the young of the finest breeds of animals on land, it appears 
more delicate and less able to contend for subsistence than 
do those of coarser natures. In its second form it is not 
beautiful, and few would suppose it a young salmon. Its 
transverse bars are plainly marked, and within three months 
after its birth it assumes lighter shades, and carmine spots 
begin to develop, when it becomes a parr. 

This specimen is half the natural length, retaining its natu- 
ral proportions. Though only between five and six inches in 
length, the parr from which I made this copy was taken by me 




A Park Eight Months Old. 

on the fly and hook with which I had that morning brought 
two goodly-sized salmon to gaff. This fact proves the real 



374 .Fishing in American Wateks. 

game of the pet. It was all life — a translucent thing of ac- 
tion — having a dark drab back, barred sides, and seven dots 
of carmine on each side, which were brighter than any burn- 
ished metal or precious stone, and about the size, of pigeon- 
shot. It was the most anxious and voracious creature that I 
had ever captured, and so sat down at once on the bank of 
Rattling Run to sketch this liveliest specimen of fish kind 
that I had ever seen. During the month of August parr of 
the last fall and winter's hatch take their places on the reefs, 
and nip the wings of flies intended for their parents; especial- 
ly is this so of the part of the shoal intended to visit the sea 
with the next spring freshets. 

It will be perceived that while this fish has the parr rays, 
or the horizontal bars peculiar to the parr, its head is taking 
better form, the mouth apparently not so large, and the white 
scales are almost beginning to appear ; but this parr is not 




A Parr Fifteen Months Old. 
Half the natural length ; proportions natural. 

to visit the sea until it arrives at two years of age or more. 
Those of the shoal which do not visit the sea until after hav- 
ing spent two autumns in fresh water develop less rapidly 
than do such as visit the sea after spending fifteen months in 
the river. There being no longer a-" parr controversy," the 
next specimen, of the same shoal as this one, will illustrate 
the difference in the development of those intended to become 
voyagers on the second spring after their birth. 

This fish, of the same shoal and age as the parr, is the part 
of the same hatch intended for visiting the sea after remain- 
ing only one summer in the stream of its birth. Nature, more 
careful than man in protecting the families of animal creation, 



Getting Ready fob Sea. 375 

sends only half the shoal to sea at a time ; the remaining 
part of the shoal will follow next year, or perhaps a few will 
remain three summers in the river before resorting to marine 




A Smolt Fifteen Months Old. 

feeding-grounds. In the mean time we lose sight of the first 
detachment, which falls back from pool to pool, and descends 
rapids and falls tail foremost until it arrives in the estuary, 
where it faces to the right about and prepares to protect 
itself from the monsters of the deep. For some days, and 
perhaps weeks, it dallies in the lower reaches and estuary, 
feeding on small caplin, shrimp, and the roe of coarser fish un- 
til its burnished sides form an armor to protect it against the 
briny deep. Where the marine feeding-grounds of the sal- 
mon are it is impossible to state from indubitable data. Sal- 
mon are sometimes found in soundings off the Isle of Jersey, 
several hundred miles from any salmon river, and yet in Can- 
ada the netters capture all their fishes approaching their riv- 
ers on the north shore of the St. Lawrence from the west, 
when the sea is at the east. That this genre of fishes, like all 
others habitually visiting fresh-water streams to spawn, re- 
turn and enter the rivers of their birth, is well authenticated, 
while it has been satisfactorily proven that if scared away 
from the estuary by nets or other unnatural fixtures they 
will enter other rivers. 

In the physical transmutations of the salmon, from the time 
it breaks the egg and hides about in crevices with a part of 
the egg attached to its abdomen, to the time when it fully 
matures into an adult salmon, there is no form it takes which 
is so graceful and beautiful as that of the grilse, the last stage 



376 Fishing in American Waters. 

short of the mature salmon. A shoal of them is like a joy- 
ous ball-party in full costume. It lacks the embonpoint of 
the salmon as much as the young people of a gay ball-party 
do that of their parents. The grilse — when attached to a 
hook — plays more gayly and with less judgment than does 
the full-grown salmon, skipping about and playing with great 
energy, and never stopping to sulk, or, more properly, to study 
the cause of its grief, until it gayly darts up to the gaffer and 
falls an easy prey, as does the coquette to the practiced skill 
of a heart-thief. 




The Grilse. 



The grilse is the same fish which left its river as a smolt. In 
its ocean pastures, where it has spent one or two winters, it has 
doffed the clumsy guise of puppyhood, and the top of its head, 
dorsal, and caudal have become velvety, while the black beads 
on its gills and upper mandible begin to appear. It lacks 
the jetty intensity which the top of the head and some of the 
fins of the adult salmon disclose, but its white is equal in 
satiny sheen to the salmon of best condition. Its weight is 
from five to eight pounds, and, having never spawned, it fol- 
lows the salmon up toward the spawning-pools at the head of 
the stream, reaching them toward the end of the spawning 
season ; and after spawning, the next spring, during its early 
rains, or in winter before, it falls back again over cataract and 
rapid until it gains the estuary, to return to sea, and fatten, 
and enlarge to a veritable salmon. 

Thus the reader may have seen that the fingerling becomes 
the parr, the parr develops scales to cover the bars on its 
sides and becomes a smolt, goes to sea and returns a grilse, 
then returns to sea and comes back a salmon. 



Supeeioeity Unchallenged. 



377 





JfP^ 



The Salmon. 



I have endeavored to illustrate the marks and forms of the 
salmon in its different stages, concluding that pictorial illus- 
trations from life are more comprehensible than explanations 
in letter-press, especially to the student at angling, who has 
not enjoyed many summers since he first wet a line for sal- 
mon, and heard the beautiful music of the reel, so charmingly 
described by Stoddart : 

" A whirr ! a whirr ! the salmon's out 

Far on the rushing river ; 
He storms the stream with edge of might, 
And, like a brandished sword of light, 
Eolls plashing o'er the surges white, 

A desperate endeavor ! 
Hark to the music of the reel ! 

The fitful and the grating ; 
It pants along the breathless wheel, 

Now hurried, now abating." 




The Swoed-fish. 



#78 Fishing in American Watees. 



CHAPTER V. 

FISH PROPAGATION ASSISTED BY ART. 

As fish-culture assisted by art has become a business of 
magnitude in France, and in England increased the revenue 
from salmon-waters over a hundred per cent.,* and as the 
Northern and Eastern rivers and lakes of the United States 
are well adapted to the rapid increase of the genus /Salmo, 
being wooded, shaded, and fed by living springs,! what excuse 
is there for longer delay in restocking the rivers which used 
to teem with salmon and trout, and stocking anew those 
many waters wherein fishes of the genus Salmo would thrive ? 
It is true, the inhabitants of the New England States are 
hopefully in earnest, and anxious to stock and protect their 
salmon and trout waters, and have appointed a conrpetent 
Fisheries' Commission, including the following gentlemen : 

Maine — Charles G. Atkins, Augusta ; N. W. Foster, East 
Machias. 

JVew Hampshire — Hon. II. A. Bellows (chairman), Concord ; 
W. A. Sanborn, Weir's. 

Vermont — Prof. A. D. Hagar, Proctorsville ; Hon. Charles 
Barrett, Grafton. 

Massachusetts — Alfred K. Field, Greenfield ; Theodore Ly- 
man (secretary), Brookline. 

Connecticut — H. Woodward, Middletown ; James Rankin, 
Old Saybrook. 

But this question is equally applicable to the State of New 

* The fishing rental of the Tay in 1852 was less than $40,000 ; in 1864 it 
had risen to $75,000, and this year it is over $100,000. 

t "Let any one look at the map of New England, with its thousands lakes 
and rivers, and imagine what riches ought to dwell in those waters." — N. E. 
Fisheries' Report. 



Clear Stkeams and build Fish-passes. 379 

York and the vast West, especially those waters running 
northward and eastward, all of which may, with a trifling ex- 
pense, be made alive with shining shoals of the mighty sal- 
mon and the beautiful speckled trout. 

It is also important to assist the propagation of other food- 
fishes by artificial means. Legislatures should appropriate 
sums for these pressing objects, which not only cheapen 
meats, but add to the variety of food a source of health as 
well as luxury, and so cheapen it as to bring it within the 
means of all. 

Next in importance to artificial propagation is the purify- 
ing of rivers from the numerous pollutions incident to a care- 
less procedure in manufacturing, where poisonous minerals, 
tan-bark, sawdust, etc., drain into the streams, instead of be- 
ing conducted away from them or consumed. Commensurate 
in importance with the purification of the rivers are properly- 
constructed fish-passes, to enable a salmon to surmount dams 
and falls to reach their spawning-pools at the heads of streams, 
for without such means procreation can not go forward, and 
of the first stock few may be taken in the same river, but 
the greater number will seek more accessible spawning-beds 
at the heads of other rivers. 

Of the numerous reasons in favor of artificial propagation, 
the following are not the least important : 

It has been proven by experiment that of salmon not more 
than one in a thousand hatched naturally arrive at maturity. 
Of trout, it is probable that double that proportion mature, 
for the present experiment of propagating trout and salmon 
side by side in Australia proves that trout thrive best, and 
are what Lord Dundreary would call " the most wobust." 
But the ranks of the speckled beauties in our trout-streams 
and ponds have been eliminated, and require filling up. This 
can not be done without the assistance of art. Let us sup- 
pose that a pond which is supplied by streams suitable for 
spawning is stocked with five hundred trout, each of which 
weighs a pound. In the course of one season they will de- 



380 Fishing in American Waters. 

posit 250,000 ova. Granting that a considerable portion of 
these are hatched, is it ever found that a fiftieth or a hun- 
dredth part of the whole arrive at maturity ? Far from this 
being the case, the number of trout will continue almost the 
same for years, without any perceptible increase. The rea- 
son is plain. So soon as the fry are hatched, they are exposed 
to the attacks of the parent trout. Within the limits of the 
reservoir there is not the remotest chance of their ultimate 
escape. It is true, if the fingerlings knew enough, they might 
ascend the tributaries of the preserve to shoals where the 
parent trout could not follow ; but they do not know, and 
man, being placed over the kingdoms of infei*ior animals, 
should preserve them for his own good. Salmon which 
spawn in the natural waters generally go to the heads of 
the streams during the fall floods and deposit their spawn ; 
when the waters subside, the ova is sometimes destroyed by 
being left on dry land. Other fish deposit their spawn and 
cover it on prior beds of spawn." Others spawn in the cur- 
rent of the stream, and a freshet carries it down the current 
as food for all the inhabitants below. In other cases the fe- 
male salmon makes her spawning-bed, and deposits and cov- 
ers up the ova, while the male fish is down at the foot of the 
pool guarding it from the incursions of an army of water- 
guerrillas. Sometimes the place in the stream selected for 
the spawning-bed is very good while preparing the trenches 
for the spawn, but by the time the spawn is deposited the 
stream has become a torrent, and washes away the ova ; and 
yet — just like a headstrong specimen of humanity — if the fe- 
male makes up her mind that she will spawn at a place, the 
rapidity of the flood of water never daunts her, though the 
swiftness of the current prevents the roe from ever touching 
bottom. Long Island is formed of a net-work tracery of trout- 
streams, and yet there are but ten establishments for the arti- 
ficial propagation of trout. Some proprietors and the poach- 
ers of the island capture trout in winter to stock ponds which 
are kept for the commercial advantages of letting them to be 



Subjects foe Consideration. 381 

fished by amateurs with the fly, or the trout are fed, and then 
netted and taken to market. There is no general attention 
paid to the procreation of the speckled beauties. Many of 
the best preserves on the island are depleted of trout by sheer 
neglect. They should divide their ponds, and catch their 
large trout and use them for stocking subsidiary waters. In 
a word, they should tap their dams with pipes, and conduct 
water into spawning-boxes. Where their dams are near a 
road or turnpike, they should run the pipes underneath, or 
place their boxes along the embankment of the dam in such 
position as to form a rather swift flow of water throughout 
the line of boxes. Nothing can be more simple or safe. The 
trout hatched in that way should be placed in small ponds, 
each brood by itself, thus necessitating three of these small 
ponds. As each brood arrives at two years of age, it should 
be turned into the main preserve, and that preserve should 
be swept annually with a large-meshed net, and all the large 
trout so taken should be transferred to the pond of propaga- 
tion, which should be watched during spawning-time — in 
September, October, and November — and when found ripe 
for spawning they should be netted, and the roe and milt 
taken from them and laid in the breeding-boxes. 

Before proceeding farther, let me say here that what I may 
state about propagating salmon is equally applicable to 
brook trout, for the only difference in the treatment of sal- 
mon and brook trout is found in the fact that trout will al- 
ways prey upon roe and young fish — even its own — while 
only the salmon Jcelt is so unnatural ; but this maternal ob- 
tuseness is supposed to be acquired from not returning to 
sea with her brood, and, thus left to the mercy of fresh-water 
insects and the scanty food of the river, she becomes what 
the habitans of Canada call a " meagre" with no more soul 
than a miser. 



382 Fishing in American Waters. 



BEST WATER FOR HATCHING SALMON". 

Spring water from 45° to 55° is probably the best. Spring 
water is preferable, as being more pure than river water even 
after being filtered, while its temperature is more equable, 
being nearer the same throughout the year. Too much sur- 
face or rain water is injurious, containing less vitality for 
game fish, but more predaceous insects, so that their larva?, 
may be mixed with the eggs in the hatching-boxes, and prey 
on the spawn before it is hatched. 

In situations where spring water can not be obtained in 
sufficient quantities, the river water should pass through a 
filter of sand and gravel. If the spring is large enough and 
the ground suitable, it may be divided into artificial rills, 
with a pipe of two inches run of water to each. Under all 
circumstances, a gentle, equable, and pure current is indis- 
pensable. 

HATCHING-BOXES FOR THE INCUBATION OF THE EGGS OF SAL- 
MON OR TROUT, AS ADOPTED BY THE COLLEGE OF FRANCE. 

These boxes are fed from a horizontal pipe two inches in 
diameter, by faucets tapping it at every tier of five boxes ; 
and to break the force of the jet so that it will not derange 
the ova in the first box, and to assist in aeration, a perforated 
zinc cap is sometimes placed before it, as the object is to 
maintain a regular movement of the current throughout the 
tier of boxes, which are about six feet long and two and a 
half wide. A constant flow of water, of nearly equal temper- 
ature, through the boxes .is a necessity. At Huningue, in 
France, all the hatching-boxes %re in a well-ventilated build- 
ing; and as hatching-time continues from October until Feb- 
ruary, a cover to the hatchiug-boxes is essential ; and in En- 
gland, to protect the ova from thieves, Mr. Francis recom- 
mended a cover of perforated zinc, with the ends which are 
above the water of zinc also ; and in order to regulate the 
temperature of the water, the horizontal pipe should be sup- 



A Link in animate Nature. 



383 




plied from a reservoir by a pipe running through a, dry-air 
refrigerator (or through a chest filled with ice), by which 
modern American invention the temperature may be regu- 
lated at any degree required between freezing and ten de- 
grees below zero. The pipe should be coiled in the refrig- 
erator. 

The aquarium presented above is the one selected by the 
College of France from numerous samples, and it has proved 
a success; but the object of it is more especially for studying 
the eggs during the time of incubation. The water is there- 



384 



Fishing m American Waters. 



fore nearly all husbanded after it passes through the boxes 
by catching it in a marble trough and sending it back to the 
supply reservoir by a pipe from a hydraulic ram, or a turbine 
like that by which many reservoirs are supplied from rivers 
or springs. These plans of aeration enable fish-culturists to 
run the same water several times over the hatching-boxes ; 
but it is thought by some professors that — for perfect safety 
to the ova — the water should be continually renewed, and not 
flow over them a second time. 

In establishments of fish-culture like the government one 
at Huningue, they endeavor to imitate nature more perfectly 
than it can be done by a tier of boxes. They therefore build 
a race-way thirty feet long, a yard wide, and eight inches 
deep, as the trout-brook, and the fountain of equal tempera- 
ture feeding it by pipes is the spring. In this race-way are 
placed crosswise numerous trays of terra-cotta, glazed inside 
to prevent contact of conferva? with the ova, and in which, to 
a frame of wood, glass tubes are fitted, and called a gril, the 
French name for gridiron. The tray is six inches wide, four 
inches deep, and as long as the race-way is wide. Both the 
tray and the grille may be moved with ease to another race- 
way, or the grille may be moved to clean the bottom of the 
tray or for other purpose. The following cut may help illus- 
trate. 




Fig. 1. Terra-cotta Tray, to fit crosswise in race-way. Fig. 2. Grille of glass tubes 
made to fit in the tray. Fig. 3. Race-way, as wide inside as the length of the tray. 



Prevent evil Contiguity. 



385 



After the roe becomes fructified by the milt, the case of 
grilles, Fig. 2, is placed in the tray, and then deposited cross- 
wise in the race-way, where the tray is mechanically confined, 
when the ova is emptied on the glass grille, and left for nature 
to do the rest, only seeing that the water continues to form a 
stream like a natural brook through the race-way, and that 
the light be never glaring or the temperature of the water 
too high, bearing in mind that there will be several degrees 
of difference between the water at the head and foot of the 
way. 

The grilles should be examined daily, and any addled or 
dead eggs removed from contact with others. This should 
be done so as not to disturb the other eggs, as great quiet 
during the months of incubation is necessary. 

The following cut represents the implements for removing 
dead eggs. 









jit 

ilP 

Fig. 1. The Siphon, used for examining the eggs. 2. Pincers for picking out dead eggs. 
3. Fine brass wire for taking up dead eggs. 

The siphon is used in France to draw up the dead eggs ; 
but, as it generally disturbs so many of the live ones, its gen- 
eral use in fish-culture is now confined to examining the eggs, 
while pincers with sharp-pointed nibs are often used for pick- 
ing out the dead eggs ; but Mr. Francis states in his " Fish 
Culture" — a small but very useful volume — "Some use a 

Bb 



386 Fishing in American Waters. 

small needle tied to a stick ; but the toughness of the ova re- 
sists the prod of the needle, and goes on slipping about. * * * 
The best plan, by very far, is to twist up a piece of fine brass 
wire into an eye just big enough to take the ova, tie it to a 
fine-pointed handle, bend it to the most convenient angle for 
lifting, softly introduce it between the ova and under the one 
you wish to withdraw, and fetch it out swiftly, but steadily." 

SPECIAL DIRECTIONS ABOUT PREPARING SPAWNESTG-BOXES. 

The following explanations were made by one of the fish- 
culturists engaged on the Tay, in Scotland : 

The boxes for containing the ova were twenty-four in num- 
ber, each being six feet long, eighteen inches wide, nine inches 
deep, and open at the top. The whole were disposed in a 
double row, parallel with the original course of the rill. Each 
row consisted of twelve boxes, placed end to end, the beds of 
the foremost commencing shortly below the lower end of the 
dam. A piece of three inches in depth and nine in width was 
cut from each log, in order to allow a free passage for the 
stream through the whole series. At the junction of each 
box was nailed a sheet of tin, with turned-up sides, to pre- 
vent the escape of the water. A couple of pipes, a yard in 
length and two inches in diameter, conveyed the stream to 
the foremost box in each row, the end of the pipes inserted in 
the dam being covered with fine wire gauze to prevent the 
entrance of trout and insects. The whole were arranged on 
a gentle slope, so as to avoid stagnation, and insure a tolera- 
bly rapid flow of water. 

The boxes being arranged, a strata on which to place the 
ova was then formed. It consisted of a mixture of sand and 
gravel, of the depth of several inches, upon which were de- 
posited pebbles of the ordinary size of road metal. When 
properly prepared for the reception of the ova, the stream av- 
eraged two inches in depth above the pavement. 

At a short distance below the dam two ponds were con- 
structed to contain the fry, the one receiving the stream from 



New Rules in Domestic Circles. 



387 



the double row of boxes, and the other from, the bed of the 
rill. The superficial area of each was two hundred and forty- 
yards, being much too small, as finally ascertained, for the 
hosts of fry with which they were ultimately tenanted. 



SECURING THE OVA OP A SALMON. 

The process by which a salmon is made to exude its roe or 
milt is illustrated by the engraving ; but the abdomen of the 
fish should be kept under water, and a napkin is better than 
the naked hand wherewith to hold the tail. It being diffi- 
cult to hold a salmon, three persons are frequently required. 
But what says our authority? 

In order to obtain the spawn in a perfectly mature state, 
the fish were taken from the spawning-bed in the very act of 
its deposition. They were caught with nets at night. When 
taken they were instantly, and without injury, put into an 
oval tub one fourth full of water. So soon as a pair of suita- 
ble fish were captured, the ova from the female was immedi- 
ately discharged into the tub by a gentle pressure of the 
hands from the thorax downward. The milt of the male was 




ejected in a similar manner, and the contents of the tub gen- 
tly stirred with the hand. After the lapse of a minute the 



388 Fishing in Amebican Waters. 

water was poured off, with the exception of sufficient to keep 
the ova submerged, and fresh supplied in its place. This also 
was poured off, and fresh substituted previously to removing 
the impregnated spawn to the boxes prepared for its recep- 
tion. 

In discharging the ova from the abdomen of the female all 
violence was carefully avoided. If, on examination, the ova 
were found to be immature, the fish was immediately return- 
ed to the river, and others in a more advanced stage taken. 
When a sufficient quantity of spawn was collected, it was at 
once removed to the hatching-ground. An amount propor- 
tioned to the size of the boxes was carefully poured in at the 
head of each, the action of the water scattering it pretty 
equally among the crevices of the stones. A temporary in- 
creased flow of the stream easily distributed it wherever it 
might happen to be too closely crowded together. Out of 
24,000 roe deposited in the spawning-boxes, 20,000 were suc- 
cessfully hatched. 

ME. JOHN GILLONE'S PEOCESS «OF PEOPAGATING TROUT AND 
SALMON. 

As owner of the " Longland Fishery," the opinion of Mr. 
Gillone is received with much confidence and respect through- 
out England. " In the first place," he states, " we have one 
mill-dam hecked at top and bottom." (As the word heck 
means " an engine or instrument for catching fish," we sup- 
pose that he means a peculiar net or singularly constructed 
weir for preventing trout or salmon from passing it, and ren- 
dering them liable to capture in the attempt.) The upper 
part of the dam was laid with gravel suitable for salmon or 
trout to spawn in naturally. There is also a very suitable 
stream for trout, or salmon to deposit their spawn, and, so 
soon as our fishing season is about to close, Ave take the num- 
ber offish required to fill our breeding-boxes with fecundated 
ova, and put them into the dam, and keep them there until 
we see them beginning to spawn. (Spawning is sometimes 



Ciphering so as to Estimate. 3S9 

continued for several clays, and sometimes weeks, by a single 
pair offish. The male trout or male salmon sometimes forces 
the female to the spawning-bed before all the ova is sufficient- 
ly matured for deposition.) We then shut down our upper 
sluice, catch and examine all the fish, and keep in a large 
wooden box all the fish ready for manipulation, returning the 
rest to the dam till we see them beginning to spawn a second 
time, and so on till we get them all spawned. 

We spawn them in a box three feet six inches long, seven 
inches wide, and nine inches deep, with as much water as will 
cover the fish. We first take the female fish from a large box 
filled with water close at hand, lay her in the little box as she 
swims (that is, her back up), taking her by the tail with the 
right hand, and with the left hand gently press from the neck 
to the vent until you get all the roe exuded. We then pour 
off about half the water, and use the male fish the same way, 
mixing the milt with the water by the hand. After mixing 
the ova, we have a large filter that fits the neck of a bottle, 
water-tight, with a rim of wire gauze. two inches deep. We 
then fill the bottle and filter with water; then, pouring off the 
greater part of the water in the spawn-box, we empty the roe 
and water into the filter. The roe, of course, sinks into the 
bottle ; the water runs off through the wire gauze, and pre- 
vents any of the ova from being spilled. The bottle is mark- 
ed off in divisions, each division holding 800 eggs of an aver- 
age size. By this way we count our roe with little trouble 
that we deposit in our breeding-boxes. In putting the ova 
into the breeding-boxes, I have a tin tube that fills the neck 
of the bottle, tapering to about a half-inch circle at the top. 
This tube I place below the water in the breeding-box, and 
gradually empty the roe into glass jars. Our breeding-boxes 
are two in number, or rather a continuation of one. They 
are laid quite level, so that the water circulates down the one 
and up the other. The boxes are made of wood, four inches 
deep, one foot wide, and the length of the two boxes com- 
bined is 135 feet. These boxes are supplied with frames in- 



390 Fishing in American Waters. 

side each three feet long, filled with narrow strips of glass, 
with the sharp edges ground off to prevent cutting the young- 
fish. The glass is laid across the stream, forming gutters, in 
which the ova is placed in rows across the run of the water; 
the glass is supported in the frames three quarters of an inch 
from the bottom of the box, the water flowing freely both 
above and below the ova. These boxes are capable of hatch- 
ing at a time 15,000 salmon or trout. This season we have 
24,000 salmon eggs deposited in them, and the eggs are be- 
coming quite visible. In depositing the ova in the several 
boxes, I keep each fish's eggs separate, and marked on the 
boxes 1, 2, 3, etc. I keep corresponding numbers in a book, 
with a remark on each fish's roe at the time of spawning ; 
and during the time of incubation, if I see any thing worthy 
of notice, I take a note of the number and what has happened. 
I pick out all the dead ova once or twice a week, and keep 
an account of the number,, and when the hatching is finished 
I subtract the number of the dead from the number deposit- 
ed, which will show about the quantity we have hatched. 

CARE IN OBTAINING FECUNDATED SPAWN. 

Whenever practicable, it is desirable to take the trout 
from the spawning-beds by means of nets, so as to insure the 
maturity of the ova. It can best be done in the night. So 
soon as caught, the fish should be placed in a large tub, or 
other vessel, partially filled with water, till a milter and 
spawner are taken. In ejecting the ova, the female should 
first be held over a bucket or large tin can half full of water, 
the lower end of the abdomen being inserted in the water, 
in order to prevent the exposure of the ova to the air. A 
gentle pressure of the hand from the thorax down each side 
of the abdomen will discharge the ova, if mature, without the 
least injury to the fish. The water in the bucket should then 
be reduced to three or four quarts previously to ejecting the 
milt of the male. In expelling the milt the course pursued 
is precisely the same as that just described, the lower end of 



Gently ukging jNatuke. 



391 




Stripping a Trout. 



the abdomen being in this case also inserted in the water. 
After stirring the contents of the bucket with the hand, the 
water should be poured off and fresh supplied several times 
in succession, until no trace of the milt can be seen, always 
taking care to keep the ova submerged. The spawn may 
then be moved to the hatching-ground or boxes ; for the arti- 
ficial spawning-bed may be made in a ditch, dug for the pur- 
pose, and paved, and supplied through pipes with water, as 
well as in boxes ; but experiments have given the preference 
to boxes, as susceptible of forming thereby a stream more 
equal in flood, volume, and temperature. In the removal of 
■the ova for a short distance, it is unimportant in what man- 
ner they are conveyed, so long as they are not much shaken. 
In transporting ova a great distance, it should be done in 
the winter or spring, placed in tanks lined with sponge and 
swamp-moss, with an aerating pump placed in it for frequent- 
ly moving the water, changing it, and exposing it to the air. 
Fecundated ova have been packed in moss by Seth Green and 
sent by mail a thousand miles, and then hatched with very 
small loss. 



392 Fishing in American Waters. 



A SIMPLE PROCESS FOR PREPARING A SPAWNING-BED. 

If you have a trout-pond, tap it at the sluice in the clam 
with several pipes of two inches diameter, covering the ends 
in the pond with fine wire gauze to exclude young fish, or 
the eggs of such fish or reptiles as are enemies to trout. Con- 
duct the water through these pipes to rows of boxes about 
two feet wide and six feet long, the boxes from the head one 
nearest the dam resting two inches lower than the one which 
immediately precedes it, so as to produce a current sufficient- 
ly swift in this artificial stream formed of a row, or several 
rows of boxes, and each row formed of half a dozen boxes. 
One pipe to supply each row of boxes, and then you may 
have as many rows of boxes as you have water to suppty, 
always bearing in mind that the water must run continually. 
The waste water, after it leaves the boxes, may be conducted 
by a ditch into the brook below the dam, or into a pond pre- 
pared to receive the young trout. The bottoms of the boxes 
are next covered to the depth of a couple of inches with sand 
and small pebbles, upon which is laid a pavement of stones 
from three to six inches in diameter. The water should be 
as much as two inches deep above this pavement, and fill the 
boxes two thirds full. The boxes are open at the top. Then 
pour the fecundated roe equally over the paved bottom of 
each box, and it will soon find its way into the crevices of 
the stony bottom, and within from sixty to seventy-five days 
the trout will be hatched, and a bag connected to the abdo- 
men by an umbilical cord contains sustenance sufficient for 
forty days, after which the tiny creature begins to seek food, 
and should be removed to its pond. 

feeding young trout or salmon. 

After the absorption of the abdominal vesicle, the fry re- 
quire food of a fine and nourishing kind — crumbs of boiled 
liver in small particles, minced meat or fish of any kind, or a 
pate of the intestines of any animal or fowl ; horse-flesh is 



Food of easy Digestion. 



893 




very good ; cheese-curd, farinaceous food, may be mixed and 
all put in solution, and fed to the tiny things through a syr- 
inge ; maggots — called gentles — a bait for sale at all the rod- 
fishing places in Europe, and the larvae and flies of the season, 
form g-ood food after the fish are two months old. 



STOCKING OLD PONDS WITH TROUT. 

Old ponds, even if inhabited by trout, are apt to fill with 
weeds, which grow from all parts of the bottom except the 
channel cut by the creek flowing through it ; and if the stream 
be too small compared with the size of the pond, so that the 
water is not renewed sufficiently often, then the eels, sunfish, 
perch, and pike are apt to accumulate, to the ultimate exter- 
mination of the trout. It becomes necessary, therefore, before 
stocking an old pond, that the water be drawn off and the 
bottom of the pond thoroughly cleaned. The expense of 
cleaning a pond is partially paid by the manure thus ob- 
tained. Some persons, after cleaning a pond, sow the bottom 
with lime and salt. The creek should also be cleaned up to 
its source by sweeping it with small-meshed nets ; but all its 
shades on the margin of the stream, and its hiding-places of 
rocks and stones in the stream, should be left, and pegs or 



394: Fishing in American "Waters. 

piles driven into the bottom, leaving the tops of them a foot 
or so above the bottom, to prevent poachers from netting the 
pond or stream. The dam may or may not be constructed 
so as to permit the trout to follow down the stream to its 
estuary and return at will. This would depend upon agree- 
ment between the different owners of the stream. But when 
the stream debouches into a bay or river of salt-water, a tum- 
bling dam offers an inducement to smelt, herring, etc., to 
spawn in the pond, and thus stock it with the best feed pos- 
sible for trout, for those trout which feed on shrimp, smelt, 
spearing, young herring, and the roe of fishes are always su- 
perior to such as feed on worms brought down the stream by 
a freshet. Although one of the principal charms of the trout 
is that he feeds on the flies which swarm on the surface of 
the water, thus enlivening and beautifying the water by 
breaking to the surface and forming numerous wakes of large 
circles, and sometimes rising above the surface and disclosing 
miniature rainbows of amber and gold, yet there are times 
when he prefers something more substantial, and will not 
touch a fly. In this he imitates humanity, which requires 
roast beef, as well as plum-pudding and omelette soufflee. So 
the trout requires his piece de resistance of something more 
substantial than flies. 

Dubravius, Dr. Lebault, and many piscatorial professors, 
dwell at great length upon preparing fish-ponds and taking 
care of them. We therefore extract the gist of their advice, 
intermingled with our own, as follows: A pond intended for 
either profit or pleasure should be cleansed once every three 
or four years, especially if large compared with the stream 
by which it is fed, or if sustained by more surface-water than 
of spring-water. It should be drained and lie dry six or 
twelve months, both to kill the water-weeds and the animals 
which feed on trout and its roe. The letting your pond dry 
and sowing oats in the bottom is also good, for it purifies the 
bottom of the pond. 

In reconstructing your pond after draining it, and having 



Habitations foe Teout. 395 

made the earth firm where the head of the pond must be, Le- 
bault advises that you drive in two or three rows of oak or 
elm piles, which should be scorched in the fire or half burned 
before they be driven in the earth, for being thus used it pre- 
serves them much longer from rotting ; and having done so, 
lay fagots or bavins of smaller wood between them, and 
then earth between and above them ; and then, having first 
very well rammed them and the earth, use another pile in 
like manner as the first were, and note that the second pile 
is to be of or about the same height that you intend to make 
your sluice or flood-gate, or the vent that you intend shall 
convey the overflowings of your pond, or any flood that shall 
threaten to break the pond clam. Then he advises the plant- 
ing of willows and osiers about the dam, and cast in charred 
logs not far from the side, as also upon the sandy places, in 
order to protect spawning-beds and form hiding-places for 
the small fry. All ponds should contain places of gravel bot- 
tom, and places sandy and shallow, where trout may disport 
themselves and burnish their sides. Fish should also have 
retiring-places, such as hollow banks, or shelves, or roots of 
trees, to keep them from clanger, and to shade them at times 
during the day in the extreme heat of summer, also from the 
extremity of cold in winter. If too many trees grow about 
your pond, the leaves, falling into the water, will impreg- 
nate it and injure the flavor of the fish. Although towering 
trees form too dense a shade, and the foliage is bad for the 
stream, while they yield cover to invite winged game and 
the consequent gunner, yet shooting much about a fish-pre- 
serve is injurious, and I would advise the planting of willow 
and alder to partially shade the stream or pond, and render 
firm the shores. 

Two trout-ponds are more profitable than one of the same 
area as the two, because they may be cleaned alternately, 
and the trout turned into one while the other is under clean- 
ing process. 

In small ponds, or ponds where the small fry of common 



396 Fishing in American Watees. 

fish often form food for trout, Lebault advises the feeding of 
trout by throwing into the pond chippings of bread, curds, 
grains, or the entrails of chickens, or of any bird or beast you 
kill to feed yourselves. On the score of feeding trout in pre- 
serves, our experience is that they are generally fed too much. 
In ponds where feed is scarce, living bait should be thrown 
in, such as minnows, mummies, shrimp, and all kinds offish 
which nature intended for bait by forbidding them ever to 
become more than three inches in length. But even this 
should be done sparingly. "We have known several ponds on 
Long Island where the fish died while they were fed sump- 
tuously, and when dead were found to be in excellent condi- 
tion. We regret to state that some animals endowed with 
the exterior semblance of humanity keep trout-ponds, and pre- 
tend that they are waters intended for the propagation of 
trout, when, in reality, they are pounds, or liquid bastiles, 
wherein to imprison trout until they command a high price 
in Fulton Market. When they get orders for them, they at 
once feed them with a huge meal of mummies (small fish), 
and when the trout have gorged themselves so that, in some 
instances, the tails of the fish which the trout vainly endeav- 
ored to swallow are seen protruding from their mouths, these 
Peter Funks then sweep the pond with a net, and send the 
trout thus stuffed to market, and receive therefor the price 
which healthy trout command. During the past season one 
dollar and a half a pound has frequently been paid for trout 
bought at wholesale. It is said that these Peter Funks rob 
the trout-streams of their neighborhoods by means of nets 
during the close season — between the first of September and 
the first of March — and deposit their stolen gains in liquid 
pounds, where they feed them until the market opens, for it 
is unlawful to catch or sell trout during the close season, ex- 
cept for the purpose of science or the object of propagation. 



The very latest Methods. 



397 



SECTION SECOND. 
ainswoeth's eace and sceeens. 




A. Top of Eace. B. Water Level. C. Upper Screen, or Sieve. D. Under Screen. E. 
Bottom of Eace. G. Supply Pond. H. Filtering Gate. 

The Upper Screen is represented from the ground-plan, in order to show the form of 
the perforated bottom, and the same after paving it with pebbles. The bottom of 
the Eace is also represented from the same view ; but the side only of the Under 
Screen is represented. The whole is suggestive, calling for judgment and science 
in construction. 

The object of this invention is to induce trout to spawn where 
the fish-culturist may gather the eggs and protect them 
until he can transfer them to the hatching-boxes once or 
twice a week, and it is a valuable step on the road of aqua- 
culture , toward husbanding all the resources of a stream. 
The object is to form a race-way of water in a stream of 
moderate flow, and divide this race into three compart- 
ments. Those are the bottom of the race paved with cob- 
ble-stones, E ; a few inches above it, and of the same width, 
is the lower screen or sieve, D ; a few inches above which 
is the upper screen, C. Trout have access to screen C for 
spawning, and as the bottom of it is perforated with holes 
twice as large as a trout's egg, of course the eggs laid on 
it will run through the bottom of the screen and lodge on 
the under one, which is perforated with very small holes 
to drain it, but not pass the eggs. Screen C is divided into 
trays, with handles at the sides for removing them by the 
hand ; the bottom is then covered with pebbles, as indi- 



39S Fishing ix American Waters. 

cated by the upper half of the screen ; the lower, or left 
half, merely represents the perforated bottom of zinc. 
Screen D, for catching the fecundated eggs, is the same 
width and length as C, divided into trays also for remov- 
ing their contents conveniently. 
The engraving represents the race from the supply pond half 
way tc the outlet of the race into the creek or lower pond. 
Screen -0 is oj)en at each end, so that trout from the creek 
below or the pond above may enter freely, it being an ar- 
tificial imitation of a natural spawning-bed. The follow- 
ing is the inventor's description : 

" This race may be built like the races made for the artificial 
impregnation of spawn used by nearly all trout-breeders to en- 
tice the trout up from the pond to spawn. It can be made 
of any length from 10 to 50 feet, and from 2 to 6 feet wide, 
according to the number of trout which are to use it, and the 
amount of water for the supply of the pond. It should be 
made with plank sides and bottom, so tight as to keep out all 
sediment. Paving the bottom nicely with small stones will 
answer. The bottom, whether of plank or stone, must then 
be covered with a half-inch layer of fine, well-washed gravel. 
"When one has large trout to spawn in the race the water 
should be 2 inches deep at the upper or supply end, and 15 
inches deep at the lower end where it empties into the pond, 
with a gentle current throughout its whole length. This will 
give good spawning depth to the water for trout of all sizes 
from 6 to 24 inches long. Usually a race 3 feet wide, and 
from 15 to 20 feet long, will be quite sufficient for a pond of 
1000 or 1800 trout. 

"The bottom of this race must be covered with fine wire- 
cloth screens, of about 10 meshes to the inch, made of zinc 
or galvanized wire, so as not to corrode, and thus injure the 
spawn. Iron wire, if painted, will answer where zinc can not 
be obtained. These wire screens must be nailed to wooden 
frames, made of inch-square stuff", the frames to correspond in 
length with the width of the race, and to be as wide as the 



Artificial Fish Propagation. 399 

cloth will permit — say 2 feet. Strips of three-quarter-inch 
stuff must be nailed to the bottom of the race for the screens 
to rest on, in such a manner that they will be raised one quar- 
ter of an inch above the gravel on the bottom. This is done 
to give good circulation to the water under the spawn as 
they fall on to these wire screens. These screens must be 
laid the whole length of the race, side by side, to catch the 
spawn as it is deposited by the parent trout. 

"Now place over these another set of screens made of coarse 
wire-cloth, of about two or three meshes to the inch, so that 
the spawn will drop through easily. These screens must be 
nailed on frames of the same length as the others, but of two- 
inch stuff, and as wide as the cloth will permit. These screens 
must be strong enough to hold 2 inches of well-washed coarse 
gravel from three quarters of an inch to 2 inches in diameter. 
They should be so large that there will be interstices between 
the gravel large enough to let the spawn pass down, if neces- 
sary, to the lower screen. The upper screens should have han- 
dles on each end to lift them by, as they will have to be taken 
out and replaced every few days during, the spawning season. 

"When these two sets of screens are placed the whole length 
of the race, and all is complete, the water will pass over all, 
2 inches deep at the supply end, and 15 inches deep at the 
lower end, with a moderate current through the whole race. 
The reader will perceive by the description and diagram that 
there is one inch of space between the two screens to hold the 
spawn as they are deposited by the parent trout, with a gen- 
tle current passing over and under them, and that the upper 
screen prevents the spawn from being destroyed by trout 
and insects, so that they are perfectly safe until removed to 
the hatching-box. 

"When the trout is ready to spawn she will enter the race 
from the. pond and prepare her nest. This she does by whip- 
ping all the sediment from the gravel with her tail, and then 
she whips or digs a hole in the cleansed gravel about 2 inches 
deep, or down to the upper screen, and about 4 inches in di- 



400 Fishing in American Waters. 

ameter. She then bends herself down in this hole and presses 
her abdomen on the gravel, and forces out from 100 to 500 
spawn, which fall to the bottom of the hole, and down through 
the upper screen to the lower one. She then passes up the 
race, and the male trout attending her comes over the nest 
and spawns, and ejects his milt on the ova ; he then whips the 
water in the hole with his tail, sending the water and milt in 
all directions, so that the milt reaches all the spawn on the 
screen or in the gravel, and, as they are ripe and ready for 
the milt, impregnates every one of them. As soon as this is 
done the mother trout returns and covers up the spawn and 
fills the hole, and soon digs another in like manner, and so on 
till she has deposited all her ova, .which sometimes takes two 
weeks. 

" There may be from 20 to 50 trout in the race spawning at 
one time, and all, or nearly all, of the spawn will be found 
perfectly impregnated and fully matured, so that they will 
all hatch if taken out every three days or once a week, and 
placed in hatching-boxes. 

" To take the spawn from the lower screens, first take out 
two of the upper screens, with what gravel is upon them; 
then remove the lower ones, and wash the spawn off into a 
large pan of water carefully, and replace one set behind you, 
and then take up one set at a time and place back until all 
are returned. ■ Should any spawn remain in the gravel, by 
raising the screen up and down a few times they will drop 
down through the interstices. The race must be kept well 
covered during the time of spawning, all persons must be 
kept away, and the fish disturbed as little as possible. 

" By this method the spawn are all saved, are perfectly ma- 
tured, are all impregnated, and will all hatch ; the young will 
be perfect, few or none will die, as their sack-food is complete, 
and they will be strong and healthy when they aomnience 
seeking food for themselves. It is much less work to take 
the spawn than by handling, and no parent trout are lost." 

As salmon and trout spawn along at intervals of several 



Latest Fish-breeding Improvements. 401 

weeks, it is natural to infer that all the eggs do not mature 
at one time. That this is the case has been proven by the 
officers of French fisheries. About the time when France 
endowed the Institution of Huningue, and when the waters, 
Avhich had for many years remained still and dead, all at once 
became enlivened by the leaps of trout and the splashings 
of salmon, the " habitans" regarded the sight as supernat- 
ural, and an evidence that Heaven was pleased with Napo- 
leon's reign. About this time, when France had first voted 
30,000 francs for the advancement of fish-culture, and then in- 
creased the sum to 80,000, the study of all residents along 
salmon-rivers and trout-streams was how to procure the eggs 
of trout and fecundate them. They read all about Joseph 
Remy's plan, and the result was that all the streams were rob- 
bed of game fishes for procuring eggs to sell to the establish- 
ment at Huningue. Of course the poor fishes were squeezed to 
death in forcing them to exude immature ova, and the streams 
becoming thereby depeopled, induced the unbelievers in fish- 
culture to set their faces against the wanton destruction. 
The French government then advertised that if would pur- 
chase no more fecundated ova unless the roe and milt were 
exuded by employes of government. Government agents 
thereafter were notified by those who had trout ready to 
spawn, and the agents visited the place, and took the ova 
only which was exuded without pressure, leaving the rest to 
restock their streams. Since then, water-farming has been 
an uninterrupted success. 

furman's natural hatching-race. 
At Maspeth, in Kings County, which is within or joins the 
metropolitan district of which New York City is the centre, 
Mr. William Furman has been propagating brook trout arti- 
ficially for the past ten years ; and as he is a gentleman of 
genius, energy, and means, and, withal, an excellent fly-fisher, 
his devotion to the art offish-culture has been rather for love 
than profit. In his hatching-race there are millions of fecun- 

Cc 



402 Fishing in American Waters. 

dated ova far enough advanced to render their eyes distin- 
guishable, and they are hatching daily, thus proving its per- 
fect adaptability to the objects intended of hatching and pro- 
tecting the eggs. It differs from that of Mr. Ainsworth in 
having but one race, with perforated bottom of zinc, with 
three holes to the inch. The bottom is covered with pebbles, 
and accessible to the trout from his pond during the spawn- 
ing season, when may be frequently seen a dozen pairs of 
spawners at a time. The water flows gently down the race, 
and the spawners keep it constantly agitated throughout the 
spawning season, so that the fecundated ova falls through the 
perforated zinc bottom to the bottom of the stream, which is 
made of sand and gravel, on Avhich the eggs hatch. 

It will be perceived that this race differs from the Ains- 
worth one, which has two perforated races or troughs above 
the bottom, from the lower one of which the fecundated eggs 
are removed to hatching-boxes, while the Furman race con- 
sists of but one perforated race or trough, from which the 
eggs fall to the bottom, and remain during the period of in- 
cubation, or until hatched. 

I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate the form of 
the Furman race, as it is similar to the Ainsworth one, only 
it has but one screen, and the bottom is not formed of mova- 
ble trays, but the eggs drop to the bottom of the stream, 
where they hatch as in a natural stream, only that they are 
protected from destruction by their parents or other families 
of the finny race, which have no access to the compartment 
of the stream. 

These imitations of the natural stream and spawning-beds 
are the latest invention in American fish-culture. Thus far 
they have proved successful, and promise to render unneces- 
sary the artificial fecundation by handling the sj)awner and 
milter for forcing exudation of the seed. These plans sim- 
plify artificial fish-breeding, and promise to prove a greater 
improvement on the French grilles and hatching-trays than 
were the latter upon the troughs with wire-cloth ends placed 



The Napoleon Fish-hatcher, 403 

in streams to hatch the fecundated ova by Lieut, Jacobi or 
Joseph Reniy. Messrs. Furman and Ainsworth being both 
gentlemen of leisure, who devote their time to fish-culture 
pro bono publico and for their love of the subject, much ben- 
efit may therefore be reasonably expected from their experi- 
ments in water-farming. 

" GENERAL DIRECTIONS," BY SETH GREEN. 

For the general management in propagating salmon and 
trout, and the transportation of fecundated ova and the ale- 
vins, the following advice, founded upon successful experi- 
ment and entirely reliable, may be read with interest by 
those who are about to commence fish-culture by artificial 
assistance : 

" Build your ponds according to the amount of water you 
have. If you have but little, build small. The water should 
be changed every 24 or 48 hours, and the oftener it changes 
the better. The trout can be very plenty if they have suffi- 
cient fresh water and food. 

" I can send ova a fifty days' journey packed in a box with 
moss. I place the moss in a tin pail, filled with sawdust, so 
that the spawn will not feel the changes of heat and cold. 

u Directions for handling the Spawn. — Pick the moss care- 
fully off from the top of the spaAvn. Then put the box in a 
pan of water and turn it nearly bottom-side up, and pick the 
moss out very carefully. The spawn will sink to the bottom, 
and you can pick the moss out of the pan, If there is a little 
left it will do no harm. Then pour the spawn in your hatch- 
ing-trough by holding the edge of your pan under water, and 
' place' them, without touching the spawn, by agitating the 
water with the bearded end of a feather. The dead spawn 
will turn a milk-white color, and should be picked out. Your 
trough should be so arranged that the water will run in it 
about twelve feet per minute. The water should be filtered 
by running through gravel or cloth screens, to prevent the 
sediment from reaching the spawn.. 1 run. about one inch of 



404 Fishing in American Waters. 

water over my spawn, and if any sediment gets on them and 
is allowed to remain there long, it will surely kill them. Re- 
move all sediment with the bearded end of a quill by agita- 
ting the water, without touching the spawn. 

" Large ponds with but little water get too warm in sum- 
mer and too cold in winter for trout to do well. It is detri- 
mental to have any other fish with trout. Any kind of fish 
or fish-spawn is good for feed. The young should be fed 
twice per day, very slowly ; if fed fast, the feed sinks ajad be- 
fouls the trough, and the trout will sicken and die. If fed 
regularly, and the trough kept clean, with a good change of 
water, and not kept too thick, they will live and do well. If 
neglected, they will surely die. 

" What is Death to Spawn. — The sun, sediment, rats, mice, 
snails, crawfish, and many water insects. 

"My troughs are 25 feet long and 15 inches wide. The 
water that feeds each trough would 2:0 throuo-h a half-inch 
hole with a three-inch head. Use fine gravel that has no iron 
rust in it. My troughs are three inches higher at the head. 
The average temperature of the water is 45°, and the fish 
hatch in 10 days. Every degree colder or warmer will make 
about six days difference in hatching. Trout hatch the soon- 
est in warm water. The sack on their bellies sustains them 
for 40 or 45 days after hatching ; then they need food. 

"When the fish are hatched, raise the water in the troughs 
about four or five inches by putting on a piece of board of 
that width on every cross-piece, thus keeping the fish sepa- 
rate — about an equal number in each square. If you have 
small streams of shallow water near the head of your pond, 
put a few in a place in the stream and pond, and they will 
take care of themselves better than you can. The object of 
distributing them is that they will get more food. All old 
streams and ponds have plenty of food for small trout and 
large, which you will find by examining the moss, sticks, and 
stones in your ponds and streams, as they are full of water- 
insects. 



Amusement foe Ladies. 405 

" The fish, after hatching, should be fed twice daily for two 
or three months, then once a day — the grown fish once a day 
or oftener. For the young fish, liver should be scraped and 
chopped very fine, and mixed with water, to give it about the 
consistency of clotted blood. Toss this to the fish a little at 
a time, so that they can catch and devour it before it reaches 
the bottom of the trough ; no more should be given than the 
fish will eat, because if any is left it will settle on the bottom 
and foul the water, and the fish will sicken and die. The fish 
may be fed on curds, fish offal, or other animal matter, pro- 
vided it be small enough for them to swallow." 

evert farmer should have a trout preserve. 

From a perusal of the foregoing descriptions for breeding 
salmon and trout by the most celebrated and successful fish- 
culturists, it will be ]3erceived that they do not differ much 
in the modus operandi. Nearly every farmer has a spring 
on his place yielding surplus water sufficient to hatch trout 
in boxes. If he does not wish to go to much expense in 
erecting a dam to form a preserve, he might at least hatch 
the trout in boxes and sell them, for they are as ready sale as 
any product of a farm. Mr. Ains worth, of Bloomfield, N. Y., 
said : " The original stock (of trout) was put in my pond, con- 
taining 61 square rods of ground, 14 feet deep, supplied with 
springs, three years ago, 1400 in number, age from 1 to 4 
years. They weigh now from 1 to 3 pounds each. They are 
about as tame as kittens — come at call, and show themselves 
clear out of water in their haste for food by the five hundred 
at a time, and some take it out of a spoon six inches above 
the water. Think of seeing five hundred trout all at the 
same instant, weighing from 1 to 3 pounds, and from 12 to 18 
inches long !" 

A two-pound trout will furnish about 8000 spawn, smaller 
ones less in proportion. They commence spawning when one 
year old. 

In this way they can be increased and grown to any ex- 



406 Fishing in American Waters. 

tent, and all the ponds and streams in the country stocked to 
overflowing. 

We conclude with the statement of both hope and confi- 
dence that the reader will find fish-breeding in boxes so sim- 
ple and sure that he will at once prepare to engage in the 
interesting and profitable occupation. 

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 

Upon the breeding-times of different fishes, and their re- 
sorts at certain seasons in the year to hibernate, there is no 
fixed data. We know that eels spawn in salt waters if they 
have access to them, and visit fresh waters to recuperate and 
fatten. On the other hand, salmon seek the heads of rivers 
to spawn, and resort to unknown marine pastures to gain 
strength and fatten. 

Most white-meated fishes spawn in the spring, yet the fish 
known as the whitejish spawns in early autumn. All mem- 
bers of the genus Salmo spawn in autumn. 

The striped bass, with which our anglers on the rivers en- 
tering the coast are as familiar as with any other game fish, 
spawns at indefinite periods. It is known that in the Chesa- 
peake Bay it spawns in spring; that in the estuaries and 
bays near New York and along the coast of Long Island it 
begins spawning in April and continues until July. The late 
Judge Morris and myself were once trolling in Hell Gate in 
September, and suspecting that a striped bass which we had 
taken contained ova in an advanced stage, we had the fish 
eviscerated, when the ova was discovered to be nearly ma- 
ture. Striped bass taken in the Vineyard Sound in autumn 
are frequently found to be big with roe nearly ready to drop. 
These facts present questions for solution by ichthyologists. 
Do striped bass — like the hens — continue laying for several 
months? Or do they lay twice a year — spring and fall? 

Both the flounder and plaice, or fluke, spawn in winter. 
Smelt spawn at intervals from February until April. 



The Empebok leads in Person. 



407 



CHAPTER VI. 

SALMON-PASSES, LADDERS, ETC. 

.aving studied ancient aquaculture 
and fish-culture, and examined the 
modus operandi for water-farming, 
with its profits a thousand - fold 
greater than those from cultivating 
the soil, the reader will have ar- 
rived at the threshold of an im- 
provement as necessary as are all 
the previously-named operations. 

One of the most important ques- 
tions of the day in reference to the 
fresh-water fisheries of the United 
States — esj>ecially to those devoted 
to the propagation of salmon and 
trout — is how to expand and devel- 
op them to the greatest extent, so 
as to interfere as little as possible 
with existing arrangements as to 
mills and proprietary rights. That 
the salmon should breed, it is ab- 
solutely indispensable that it should be able to reach the 
heights and shallow portions of rivers, which alone afford 
suitable gravel-beds for the operation of depositing the ova 
and rearing the young. If it can not get to these, the breed 
of salmon is soon extinguished, and this has been the cause 
of its extinction in ninety-nine rivers out of every hundred. 
Mill-dams, those terrible enemies to the salmon, are the prin- 
cipal offenders in this respect. Commercial and manufactur- 
ing' interests being almost too strong for the salmon, the 




40S Fishing in American Wateks. 

question which has been agitating the minds of the most en- 
lightened pisciculturists of the age for years has been, How 
we can best contrive that the fish shall have a free passage 
up the rivers, in order to continue its species without any loss 
of water-power or profits on the part of the mill-owners? If 
we can show them that this is possible, we have a natural 
right to compel those who have blocked up our rivers for 
their own profit to give the fish a free passage as a public 
benefit. The very best passage through a dam is an open 
run by means of a good wide pass in the centre of the dam, 
or, at any rate, in such part of it as will easily be found by 
the salmon, in showers, when the water-power is generally 
more than enough for the requirements of the mill and fac- 
tory. There can be no great difficulty about this (proper re- 
gard, of course, being paid to the stability of the dam), ex- 
cept on rivers where the power is at all deficient, when con- 
trivances, such as ladders, etc., etc., are needed to prevent the 
waste of any of the water-power. It is true that salmon can 
jump up a fall of considerable height. Indeed, salmon have 
been known to partly jump and partly swim up falls of ten 
or twelve feet in height, and even much more ; but the ca- 
pability requires certain conditions for its performance, and 
chief of all these is a good deep pool at the foot of the fall 
or dam as a startingq)lace, and the more arched or slanting 
out of the perpendicular the fall is, the easier the salmon will 
surmount it. It used formerly to be supposed that a salmon 
jumped out of the water in the way that mites ar,e seen to 
jump in a rotten cheese, viz., by putting the tail to the mouth, 
and then, by the exertion of a sudden effort of muscular ex- 
pansion, forcing its broad tail to act upon the water so as to 
shoot the fish ahead. This is now known to be fallacious, as 
it is seen that the salmon is quite powerless to leap any dam 
when the waters at the foot of the dam are shallow; and it 
is known that salmon leap like all other animals (except 
cheese-mites), viz., by acquiring the utmost attainable veloc- 
ity by means of a run, and then, by a sudden and powerful 



How Salmon and Tkotjt Leap. 409 

spring, giving the impetus. This spring must be made, of 
course, by the assistance of every fin that can aid it, but chief- 
ly by a strong stroke of the tail. Unfortunately, however, 
the majority of mill-dams are so spread out across rivers 
that the water runs over them in the thinnest possible sheet, 
and the soundness of the dam requires a foundation on the 
lower face. This foundation is assisted and protected by a 
wooden sheathing called the apron, and this is placed as near 
the surface of the water as possible, and extends down stream 
for fifteen or twenty feet below the dam, so that the under- 
standing of the dam may not be undermined ; and thus it 
constantly occurs that while the pool below the dam is of 
great depth and capacity, yet it only forms a sort of reservoir 
for the fish, which the owner of the dam catches at his lei- 
sure, the fish being unable to approach the dam even so as to 
swim or pass over it ; and a dam of this sort, if only three or 
four feet high, would be as impassable to salmon as if it were 
four times that height. A salmon will scull up a pretty swift 
stream that does not perhaps cover his back, so long as his 
tail and pectoral fins, which are the propelling power, are im- 
mersed,* provided in such waters he is not called upon to 
make a perpendicular jump. This he can not do without a 
run to start him. In considerable depths, for a short space, 
a salmon can force his way through extremely rapid and 
heavy waters, but there are limits to this capability ; and the 
difficulty which pisciculturists labor tinder is the ascertaining 
vihat toeight or rapidity of water a salmon can stem. Some 
salmon, of course, can stem a stronger torrent than others, but 
the problem must be taken as applicable to the weakest fish, 
not the strongest, inasmuch as the object is chiefly to per- 
mit the passage of female fish very heavily laden with ova. 
A female fish, full of eggs, carries something like a fourth of 
its own entire weight in that commodity, and unless such fish 

* The tail is the most important organ in this proceeding, the fins being 
used chiefly for balancing and steering the fish, though they all aid propul- 
sion on unusual occasions calling for great and sudden effort. 



410 Fishing in American Waters. 

are let up, there is little use in letting the others up. Therefore 
the easier these passages (of whatever kind they maybe) are 
made for the salmon, the better it will be for the fishery. 

Now it has been ascertained that a slope of one in seven 
or eight is very near the extreme of steepness which a strong- 
salmon can make his way through — that is, for any distance. 
It may be that by a sudden effort of the tail, for a yard or 
two, he can shoot almost any thing, but when he has been a 
dozen yards or more of such gradient, unless he can somehow 
obtain a fresh starting-point, the effort fails, and the fish is 
driven back by the weight of the stream. 

Therefore it is desirable, in all passes which are long or 
full-steep, to have a resting-place, or a quiet pool whence the 
salmon can take wind and make a fresh start. It is impossi- 
ble to lay down any definite rule for the construction of all 
fish-passes, since the architect must be governed by the facil- 
ities or difficulties presented by the dam or fall, and probably 
few dams should be treated precisely the same. Various 
methods have been employed where the water at the pool be- 
low the dam is too shallow to offer the fish a good start to 
leap the obstruction. One of the first and most simple plans 
constructed on the New England and Canadian rivers was a 
series of leaps from pool to pool, with a small dam thrown 
across the stream below in order to raise the water enough 
to give the salmon a start. 

A stone pier is erected above the fall to break the ice in 
spring, and to check the force of the timbers and the heavy 
debris of the stream during spring freshets. 

On small streams, a rough dam of big boulders, logs, etc., 
has been made a few yards below the existing one ; this will 
probably be almost half the height of the other, and is com- 
paratively easy to get over. It returns the water against 
the lower face of the original dam, and so makes that much 
easier, and by making a pool between them of some depth, it 
gives the fish the start it requires. This, on small streams, 
has been found very effective, and can not in the least affect 



Stone Pier to protect Structure. 



411 




Salmon Leaps. 



the mill-power; but upon large rivers the plan is impracti- 
cable. The same principle can be applied to a pass which is 
imperfect, and it has been found to answer. A curving pier 
has been built out from the dam below, so that the water 
falling over the dam is thrown back by it, and though it is 
open at one end, yet it passes far enough across the bed of 
the river just below the fall to so raise the water that fish 
get a start to leap the dam. To increase the depth of water 
between this pier and the dam, a large beam of wood, in slant- 
ing direction from the top of the dam to the pier, conducts a 
wide sheet of water from the top of the dam to between the 
dam and the pier. This method for a salmon-leap can not 
injure the water-power. In all cases, the importance of such 
vital means of assistance to the salmon requires that the arch- 



412 Fishing in American Waters. 

itect should be a man of natural genius as well as learning 
in his profession, and be, withal, a good angler, or know the 
habits of his client. 

When the mill-power is of so much consequence that no 
water can be wasted, and if the fall be great, a fish-ladder is 
indispensable. Fish-ladders were first invented by Mr. Smith, 
of Deanston, in England, and were employed by him very 
successfully, and the great secret of his success was in the 
easy gradient which he gave them. His original plan was 
something like a fall of one foot in twenty ; but so easy a 
gradient as this greatly lengthens the ladder, and adds very 
largely to the expense. The chief object of all ladders should 
be to deliver the water they carry to the spot where the fish 
are most likely to find it and to use it. This is, in all dams, 
close to the foot of the dam, and as near as .may be conven- 
ient to the strong main stream. If the foot of the ladder 
should be carried too far down the stream below the dam, 
the fish which are at the foot oi the dam will be so far above 
the entrance to the ladder that they will not find it ; and if 
it be in some wide eddy or part of the stream where it might 
be more easy to construct the ladder, the fish will not go to 
that part, out of the main stream, to seek it. When it is 
necessary, by reason of the height of the dam, to have a long 
ladder, it should be turned in the middle like a double pair 
of stairs, with a landing or pool halfway, so as to deliver the 
water close to the foot of the dam. The far-famed fish-lad- 
der at Ballysadare, in Ireland, is made upon this principle, and 
by the aid of it salmon manage to surmount a fall above thir- 
ty feet in height. The opposite engraving will show the 
principle. 

A stone pier above the entrance of the water to the ladder, 
as at D, is essential in American waters to protect the ladder 
from the ice and the terrific debris of spring floods. The sal- 
mon are all turning their pretty noses toward the ladder, and 
many of them are ascending. They must think the Irish a 
kind people to have erected such a convenience for them. 



Result of Study and Genius. 



413 





Ballysadare Salmon-pass. 

A. Face of Dam. B. Entrance to the Ladder, easily found. C. Resting-pool, of from 
one to two feet depth. D. Exit from Ladder above the fall. 

The steps in the ladder extend three fourths its width, leav- 
ing the stream and eddies represented. This sketch illus- 
trates a very important principle, which can be varied at 
pleasure. The gradient of a salmon-ladder should really not 
be less than 1 in 9 or 10, and 1 in 12 is better still. The 
chambers between the steps are greatly improved if the bot- 
tom — instead of being all upon the same slope as the gen- 
eral gradient of the ladder — is broken into steps, so that the 
water is deeper immediately behind the steps, or little steps 



414: Fishing in American Waters. 

or falls formed at the passage past the steps. Indeed, if it 
be practicable, the more the chambers are hollowed out, so 
as to deepen the water as much as possible in places, and 
thus to break and deaden the force of the stream, the better. 
Excellent results have been obtained by this arrangement. 
Of course this adds somewhat to the expense, but people 
should consider rent when they are making a salmon-fishery, 
which, if it is made, may in all probability be worth a very 
large sum of money annually, to risk the loss of which for 
the want of any little precaution, which may cost but a very 
trifling sum comparatively, is very bad economy, and hence 
every possible chance should be given to the fish. 

Salmon-ladders can be made of wood, but they are far bet- 
ter of stone, being less liable to destruction or damage. It 
is a question, however, whether a salmon-ladder could not be 
better and more cheaply made and put together of iron. 
Such a structure might be supported very easily and firmly 
by means of light iron piles driven into the head of the river 
below the dam, and made in lengths which could be bolted 
on to the dam and riveted together, much easier than stone 
or mason's work can be secured. 

Among other passes, there is one which is perhaps better 
suited to a natural fall, though it was in use formerly upon 
navigable rivers, where locks and dams, were placed to suit 
the navigator. This was an artificial cut, coming into the 
river at the foot of the dam, but let out of the river some dis- 
tance above it, so as to make the ascent, which is broken by 
the dam, gradual and easy. There are many contrivances 
for helping fish surmount falls and dams, and they vary con- 
siderably, accoi'ding to the nature and position of the ob- 
struction ; so that, while it is impossible to lay down any gen- 
eral rule of construction for all, yet the principle that a cer- 
tain depth and head of water is reserved for the passage of 
the fish, and that no fall of water up which a salmon has to 
pass should have a greater incline than 1 in 9 or 10, are those 
by which alone the construction, can be guided. 



Plain Stairs foe Short Rises. 



415 




The Sligo Salmon-staiks. 



These stairs, of heavy timbers and mason-work, are intend- 
ed to assist salmon and trout up small natural falls or dams, 
and for such object are highly successful. A dam may be 
necessary across the stream a few rods below, so as to deepen 
the water below the fall, and give the fish a swimming start. 
The height of this sub-dam should be three feet, and the 
whole work well considered, and designed with much atten- 
tion to the gradient, depth of water, and place for the foot of 
the ladder. 

The most important American ladder is the one adopted 
by the Dominion of Canada, a sketch of which will be found 
on the following page. 



416 



Fishing in American Waters. 




1 4 
Canadian Salmon-stairs. 




Fig. 1. Stone Pier to protect the Dam. 2. Plank and spike Dam, stone foundation. 
3. Bed of the Pass or Stairs. 4. Entrance to the Pass. 5. Earress from the Pass. 



Stairs foe the Fibst Families. 417 

This pass is built into the dam, and constructed of heavy 
timbers filled in with stone, or all of solid masonry. It is in- 
tended to be strong enough to resist and break up the acres 
of thick ice, and to prevent the huge trees swept down the 
stream by the spring freshets from injuring any material part 
of the structure, which is so strongly erected, and of such 
heavy material, and imbedded so firmly, as to strengthen the 
dam of which it forms so important a part. 

Fig. 6 is the ground plan, and V the side elevation, with 
dotted line showing the bed of the pass, and with the ends of 
the steps indicated by 8 and 9. 

The whole subject of passes and ladders is of extreme im- 
portance to our fisheries, and it is one which calls for the 
closest, most patient, and most scientific investigation ; for if 
fish are not allowed to reach their breeding-places, it is use- 
less to look for salmon ; and the difficulty is how to deal with 
the vested rights of mill-dams, etc., so as not to arouse the 
opposition of the manufacturing sections. 

The following account of foreign experience tells with 
equal force in America : 

" I watched the fish with a race-glass for some ten minutes 
before disturbing them, anxious to observe what Nature was 
teaching me. There is a very deep pool at the point where 
the waterfall joins the lower level of the water. The fish 
came out of this pool into the air with the velocity of an ar- 
row ; they gave no warning or notice of their intentions, but 
up they came, and darted out of the surface of the water with 
a sudden rush, like rockets let loose from the darkness of the 
night into the space above. When they first appeared in the 
air their tails were going with the velocity of a watch-spring 
just broken, and the whole body, sparkling as though they 
had been enameled, was quivering with the exertion. They 
looked as much like flying-fish as ever I saw any thing in my 
life. As they ascended their tails left off quivering, for these 
tails were machines made to act on water, and not wings to 
act on air. Their course was somewhat trajectory in form, 

Dd 



•±18 Fishing in American Waters. 

but not so much as I should have expected. Not one single- 
fish, alas ! did I see get over ; some of them jumped into the 
body of the waterfall, and were hurled violently back into the 
pool, like the pictures we see of soldiers of old thrown down 
headlong from the ramparts of a besieged city. Other fish 
would put on more steam, and were in consequence carried 
by their own impetus right through the sheet of water, dash- 
ing themselves with the force of a cricket-ball against the 
solid wall which formed the weir. These also, poor things ! 
fell back into the pool half stunned, and with cut and bruised 
noses. While the bigger fish were making these strenuous 
efforts to ascend, their smaller companions were jumping dis- 
tances more or less high up into the falling water. Many 
had evidently given it up for a bad job, and were swimming 
about with their little black noses projecting out of the white 
boiling water, doubtless crying out, 'We can't get up, we 
can't get up. Cruel miller to put the weir. Do what you 
can for us.' ' Wait a bit, my dear fish,' I said ; ' the Duke 
of Northumberland is a kind man, and he is going to make a 
ladder for you ; the plans are nearly settled, and you shall 
then jump for joy, and not for pain. In the mean time read 
this.' So I pinned a large piece of paper on the weir, which 
read thus : ' Notice to salmon and bull-trout — no road at 
present over this weir. Go down stream, take the first turn 
to the right, and you will find good traveling water up stream, 
and no jumping required.' " 

Passes for trout over common dams may be accomplished 
by building a tumbling dam, so that the fish may surmount 
it by small leaps. That common fish should ascend dams is 
as important as that trout and salmon should, for the com- 
mon fish and their roe form food for the game fish. Smelts, 
herrings, moss-bunkers, chub, dace, spearing, capl.in, sardines, 
launces, etc., are made as subsistence for salmon and trout, 
and the stairs and passes should be so graduated as to enable 
them to pass up and procreate their generations. 

In propagating trout, it is frequently necessary that they 



A Limit to the Ambitious. 



419 



should be prevented from running up a stream beyond a cer- 
tain point; hence the following screen is intended to prevent 
them from leaping a small cascade. 



f~i/. \/& \' 




The Horizontal Screen. 

This may be constructed of horizontal bars placed three 
inches apart, instead of lattice-work ; or it may be of copper 
wire. 




The Current Wheel. 



This wheel will prevent fish from passing up stream, while 
the horizontal screen allows the passage of floating food. 



Concluding that enough information has been laid before 
the student for enabling him to begin fish-farming and pur- 
sue it with success, I will therefore proceed to another topic. 



JJart Jtftl). 



A GLIMPSE OF ICHTHYOLOGY. 



CHAPTER I. 



A GLIMPSE OF ICHTHYOLOGY. 

limpsbs at the sciences are 
generally worse than 
superfluous, and to 
" drink deep or taste 
not" is the true ad- 
vice ; but the angler 
and the general fisher- 
man may find it an 
advantage to know 
enough of ichthyolo- 
gy to qualify them for 
correctly describing 
the fish they catch, 
and it is for this ob- 
ject that the following " glimpse" is submitted. The speci- 
men of the pike-perch, being the fish known in Ohio and 
some other states of the West as the salmon, is presented for 
teaching the names of fins. 

^"Dorsal 





The Common Pike-perch. — Luciuperca Americana. 



In describing a fish, the size, form, and color are given — 
the number, character, and position of the fins — and fre- 



424 



Fishing in American Waters. 



quently the shape and character of the scales, the character 
of the gills, and the number of the gill-openings. 

The most important and easily i*ecognized of these features 
are the fins ; and in describing them the names are given, 
and the number of spines or rays in each. 

FIRST CLASS OF FISHES. 

SPINE-BAYED BONY FISHES. (Acanthopterygii.) 




Scale of Inches. 

The Pekcii Family.— 1. American Yellow Perch, Perca jlavescens. 2. Striped Sea Bass, 
Labrax lineatus. 3. Black Bass, or Black Perch of Lake Huron, Huro nigricans. 4. 
Growler, or White Salmon of Virginia, Grystes salmoides. 5. Black Sea Bass, Cen- 
tre-pistes nigricans. 6. Mediterranean Apogon, Apogon trimaculatus. T. Two-band- 
ed T)i\)\o^>x\ov,Diploprion bifaciatum. 8. One-spotted Mesopriou, Mesoprion unino- 
tatus. 9. Ruby-colored Etelis, Etelis carbunculus. 10. Armed Enoplossus, Enoplos- 
sus armatus. 11. Lettered Sen-anus, Serranus scriba. 12. Spined Serranus, Serranus 
anthias. 13. Red Surmullet, Mullus barbatus. 

THE PERCH . FAMILY. (Ctenoids.) 

The spine - rayed bony fishes comprise more than three 
fourths of all the various kinds that are known. From four- 
teen to seventeen different families, some of them embracing 
several hundred species each, have been included in this di- 
vision. At the head of the whole stands the Perch family, 
the most numerous of all. Most of them are salt-water fish, 



Aldermen and Police. 



425 



but about one fifth of the whole number inhabit fresh-water 
streams, or occasionally ascend them from the sea. 




Scale of Inches. 



1. Mailed Gurnard, Peristedion malarmat. 2. Big Porgee, Pagrus argyrops. 3. Banded 
Ephippus, or Three-tailed Porgee, Ephippus faber. 4. The Sheepshead (famed for 
its exquisite flesh), Sargus ovis. 5. Streaked or Rock Gurnard, Trigla lineata. 6. Ax- 
illary Sea Bream, Pagellus acame. 7. Bearded Umbrina, Umbrina vulgaris. (The 
Umbrina is given as the representative of the family of the Maigres, which includes 
our Weakfish, Oorvinas, the Chub, Kingfish, and the Drum, the latter noted for the 
loud drumming noise which it makes, and the cause of which is still a mystery.) 8. 
Common Mackerel, Scomber scomber. 

The several species of the Pilot-fish, of which so many cu- 
rious stories have been told, also belong to the Mackerel fam- 
ily. The ancient naturalists asserted that the common pilot- 
fish, which is a pretty little fish about a foot in length, joins 
company with the tempest-tossed bark of the anxious mar- 
iner, indicates to him his nearest course to land, and leaves 
him as soon as it has fulfilled this kind office. 

Others, with much reason, deny this assertion, and allege 
that the pilot, like the shark, follows vessels for the purpose 
of obtaining a share of the gai'bage which may be thrown 
overboard. Certain, however, it is, that their perseverance 
in this respect is very singular, as is narrated in the case of 
an English vessel which was accompanied by two pilot-fish 



426 



Fishing in American Waters. 




Scale of Feet. 

1. Common Swordfish, Xiphias gladius. 2. Indian Swordfish, Histiojihorus Indicus. 
3. Common Tunny, Thynnis vulgaris. 4. Dolphin of the Ancients, Cori/phcena Mp- 
puris. 5. Scabbard-fish, Lepidopus argyreus. 6. Wolf-fish (a fighting; character, be- 
longing to the family of the Gobies), Anarrhichus lupus. 7. Fishing Frog, Lophius 
piscatorius. 

during its entire voyage of eighty days from Alexandria, in 
the Mediterranean, to Plymouth. 

It is a current opinion among sailors that this fish acts a 
pilot's part to the shark, and accompanies and befriends it as 




The Pilot-fish. — Naucrates doctor 



opportunity offers ; and certainly there is a great amount of 
evidence which goes to show that there is something very 
much like a confiding familiarity between these two compan- 
ions of the weary mariner. Numerous well -authenticated 



The Fate to Purvey for Others. 



427 



cases like that which we quote from Cuvier, respecting the 
habits of this fish, might be given. 

With the ancients, however, as described by their poets, 
this little fish was the faithful companion of the whale in- 
stead of the shark ; and Oppian thus alludes to the services 
which these pigmy pilots render to their unwieldy associates : 

" Bold in the front the little pilot glides, 
Averts each danger, every motion guides ; 
With grateful joy the willing whales attend, 
Observe the leader, and revere the friend. 
Where'er the little guardian leads the way, 
The bulky tyrants doubt not to obey, 
Implicit trust repose in him alone, 
And hear and see with senses not their own." 

When, and on what grounds, the misunderstanding of the 
pilot with his " fat friend" took place, history fails to inform 
us ; but that he is now the ally of the dreaded shark, which 
he escorts in safety through every sea, is matter of general 
notoriety and almost daily observation. 

In addition to the foregoing spike or spine rayed fishes, 
many others of them among the food-fishes and those for the 
angle will be found described in another part of the book, 
under the names of the fishes. 




The Roach and the Dace. 



428 



Fishing in American Waters. 



SECOND CLASS OF FISHES. 

SOET-EAYED BONY FISES. (Malacopterygii.) 




Scale of Indies. 

The Carp Family.— 1. Golden Carp, or Goldfish, Cyprinus auratus. 2. The Roach, 
Leueiscus rutilus. 3. The Loach, or Beardie, Cobitis barbatula. 4. The Tench, Tin- 
ea vulgaris. 5. The Barbel, Barbus. vulgaris. 6. New York Shiner, Cyprinus cryso- 
leucas. 7. Common Carp, Cyprinus carpis. 8. Common New York Sucker, Catosto- 
mus communis. 



FISHES WITH ABDOMINAL VENTRAL FINS. 

The carps may be placed at the head of the soft-rayed di- 
vision. They are the least carnivorous of all fishes, and em- 
brace, besides the common carp and its kindred, the several 
species of the barbel, the gudgeon, the tench, the roach, the 
dace and shiners, the minnows, the loach, and the American 
suckers. They are the most abundant fish in the fresh-water 
streams of Europe and America. 

The carp, tench, roach, and kindred fishes are said by the 
Abbe Dom Pinchon — the original fecundator and hatcher of 
fishes by artificial means — to be the most profitable to stock 
ponds with ; and unless they should become so numerous as 
not to find sufficient feed, introduce a few pickerel or perch. 



Varieties foe Bait and Fly. 



429 




Scale of Inches. 

The Pike Family. — 1. Saury Pike, Scomber-esox saurus. 2. Common Pike, Esox lucius. 
3. Common Garfish, Belone vulgaris. 4. Guiana Garfish, Belone Guianensis. 5. Com : 
mon Flying-fish, Exocilus wlitans. 




Scale of Inches. 

Salmon and Teotjt Family. — 1. Whitefish of the Lakes, Coregonus albus. 2. Common 
Sea Salmon, Salmo salar. 3. New York Brook Trout, Salmo fontinalis. 4. Troutlet. 
5. Great Lake Trout of Europe, Salmo ferox. 



430 



Fishing in American Waters. 



Descriptions under each fish will he found in another part 
of the book, including those of the Shad and other members 
of the Herring and Pilchard family. 



THE GADID^E FAMILY, OR FISHES WITH THE VENTRAL FINS 
BENEATH THE PECTORALS, CALLED Sub-brachlClls. 




Scale of Inches. 

The Cod Family. — 1. Three-bearded Rockling, or Sea Loche, Motella trieirrata. 2. 
The Torsk, Brosmius vulgaris. 3. The Hadaock, Morrlma ceylefinus. 4. Coalfish, 
Merlangus carbonarius. 5. The Ling, Lota molva. 6. Five-bearded Rockling, Motel- 
la quinquecirrata. 7. The Whiting, Merlangus vulgaris. 8. Great Forked Hake, 
Phycis furcatus. Common Cod, Morrhua vulgaris. 

The cod and haddock are among the most important food- 
fishes in the world. They are caught with the hand-line on 
the edges of soundings, and visit the bays along the Atlantic 
coast to spawn. The Georgia Banks and the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence form pastures for millions of them, where they 
feed on launces (small eels), caplin, and young menhaden. 
The haddock is said to refuse all kinds of bait in stormy 
weather. 

The cod and haddock, as important commercial fishes, are 
treated of in another part of the work. . 



Luxuries in Disguises, 
the flatfish family. {Pleuronectidm.) 



431 




Scale of Inches. 

Flatfish Family. — 1. The Turbot, Rhombus maximus. 2. Oblong Flounder, Platessa 
oblonga. 3. The Plaice, Platessa vulgaris (similar in form to the Rust;/ Dab of our 
coasts). 4. The Halibut, Hippoglossus vulgaris. 5. Common Sole, Solea vulgaris. 

The turbot of Europe is regarded as the aldermanic fish, 
answering to our sheepshead. Both the sole and turbot are 
great delicacies, and even luxuries. Boiled sole, served in a 
napkin on a hot plate, with cauliflower as a vegetable, and 
fresh drawn-butter, is not easily refused by the most pam- 
pered epicure. These fishes are generally taken with the 
hand-line and with the deep-sea casting-net. The meat of 
the sole is very white, and the taste pure and of delicate fla- 
vor. It is said to feed in deep waters along chalk cliffs. 

Fishes 2 and 3 are the common flounder and the fluke. The 
lower jaw of the flounder is on the right side of the head, and 
that of the fluke on the left side. These are among the first 
biting fishes of the early spring season in most of the estua- 
ries on the Atlantic coast. They are excellent fishes, but 
not sufficiently known or appreciated by epicures. 

Until within the past ten years, it was supposed that nei- 
ther the turbot nor the sole inhabited waters alone; the Atlan- 



432 



Fishing in American "Waters. 



tic coast of North America ; but recently a few turbot have 
been taken off the coast of New Brunswick, and it is thought 
their feeding-grounds will yet be found along our shores. 



THIRD CLASS OF FISHES. 
CAETILAGINOUS FISHES. (Chondropterygii.) 




Scale of Feet. 

Sharks. — 1. Large-spotted Dog-fish, Scyllium catulus. 2.. Tope, or Penny-dog, Galeus 
vulgaris. 3. Blue Shark (the most common shark on our coasts), Carcharius glau- 
cus. 4. Porbeagle, Lamna cornubica. 5. Small-spotted Dog-fish, Scyllium canicula. 
6. Picked (or Piked) Dog-fish, Acanthias vulgaris. 7. Smooth Hound, Mustelus Icevis. 




Scale of Feet. 

Sturgeon and Chimera Families. — 1. Common Sturgeon of the Atlantic, Acipenser 
sturio. 2. Northern Chimera, Chimcera monstrosa. 3. American Lake Sturgeon, 
Acipenser rubicundus. 



Bottom Denizens. 



433 




Scale of Feet. 

The Ray Family.— 1. Common Torpedo, Torpedo vulgaris. 2. Many-spined Trygon, 
Trygon histrix. 3. Thornback Ray, Raia clavata. 4. Angel-fish, or Monk-fish, Aqua- 
Una angelus. 5. Eagle Ray, or Whip Ray, Myliobatis aquila. 




The Catfish Family. — 1. Brown Catfish, Pimelodus pullus. 2. Common Catfish, or 
Horned Pout, Pimelodus catus. 

The Catfish family embraces the numerous fresh-water fish 
which are known in this country by the common names of 
catfish, horned pouts, and bullheads. They mostly inhabit 
muddy streams and lakes, are destitute of scales, sluggish in 
their movements, and, like the famous fishing-frog or angler, 
to which they bear some resemblance, depend more upon 

Ee 



434 



Fishing in American Waters. 



stratagem than swiftness to seize their prey. The different 
sjoecies vary in length from three or four inches to four feet ; 
and some are said to have been caught in the Ohio, and Mis- 
sissippi Rivers measuring eight feet in length. 

In addition to the brown or black and common catfish, 
there is one called the " lady-cat," or channel catfish, which 
tenants the Missouri River, and is not only a great table lux- 
ury, but one of the most gamy fishes of the West. It usually 
ranges from five to fifteen pounds in weight, is symmetrical- 
ly formed, with smaller head, and finer in general outline than 
the others, and is also lighter and brighter in color. This 
fish remains in the swiftest waters of the channel, and feeds 
on the chub, roach, and other small fry. It is one of the 
greatest delicacies of the fish kind, and in play it affords the 
disciple of rod and reel a treat long to be remembered. It 
is fished for with minnow for bait, using heavy bass tackle 
with a tracing sinker. When hooked, its run is very swift, 
and it is hard to turn and coax out of the channel, or to the 
gaff or landing-net. 

The following singular circumstance, going to prove the 
affinity between the common horned pout and the bullfrog, 
may interest the naturalist : 

n a recent occasion, 
while with Matte- 
son, the artist, he 
informed me of the 
experience of Dr. 
White — one of the 
principal physi- 
cians in the central 
part of New York 
State — in fishing 
for horned pout, 
known throughout the country as bullheads. 

The doctor, having a taste for angling, which he indulged 
whenever the condition of his patients permitted, was on his 




True as Singular. 435 

return homeward from visiting a patient, when a summer 
shower reminded him that it would sharpen the appetite of 
the bullheads in the river which he was approaching, and he 
therefore reined up under a shed near the river, hitched his 
horse, cut an ash pole, found a line armed with a hook and 
sinker in his pocket, dug some angle-worms, and forthwith 
went a-fishing. 

There was a punt moored at the shore, and, leaving it an- 
chored to the side of the stream, he stepped into it and be- 
gan to fish. The bullheads put in an appearance immediate- 
ly, so that within half an hour he had taken some two dozen 
fish, and as fast as he took them he cast them on the grassy 
bank of the shore. Having a pretty good mess, he cut a 
switch and went to string them, when not one was to be 
found. This surprised the doctor, and he at once concluded 
to solve the mystery, and so commenced fishing again, and 
throwing the fish on the shore as he had before done, but 
keeping a sly watch of them. After he cast the fourth one, 
a large bullfrog leaped from the water, took hold of a bull- 
head, and rolled into the water with it ; leaping out imme- 
diately, and taking another fish, he rolled in as before, and so 
continued until he had returned the four to the water. The 
doctor continued fishing, and as fast as he had cast three or 
four fish on shore, the bullfrog returned and helped them 
back into the river. 

As Dr. White is an educated gentleman who enjoys the 
confidence of a very wide professional and intellectual con- 
nexion, I feel assured of the truth of the foregoing incident, 
and therefore report the case for Professor Agassiz or some 
other naturalist, with the view to a learned decision on the 
nature of the link which connects the bullhead and frog. 

The bullfrog could not have helped the bullheads back to 
the stream to feed on them, for the spiked dorsal and pecto- 
rals of the latter forbid it. Even the pike — the most vora- 
cious fresh -water fish in the world, excepting the silurw, 
which is a species of catfish — is deterred from the attempt. 



436 



Fishing in American Waters. 



The important question for the naturalist is, Why did the 
bullfrog help the bullhead? Does the celestial quality of 
charity influence the lower strata of vertebrates ? 



SECTION SECOND. 



THE COMMON EEL. 



This apode is too common in both the salt-water estuaries, 
and in the fresh waters throughout America, to require a mi- 
nute description. Though many fishes come into fresh wa- 
ters to spawn, the eel spawns in salt water when it can get 
to it, going down stream in autumn, and returning in spring. 
It is a bottom fish, and winters in the mud at the bottom of 
eddies or shallow still waters in streams, where the fisher poles 
his boat along with the handle of an eel-spear, and jabs right 




The Common Eel. — Anguilh. 

and left in the mud, frequently impaling the writhing fish. 
The silver eel at the mouths of the trout-brooks on Long Isl- 
and is a great luxury when either fried hard or made into a 
stew. It is 'regarded as so great a dish at Vanclewater's, at 
South Oyster Bay, as to be preferred to a trout in the trouting 
season. In skinning the eel and drawing it, cut deeply each 
side of the backbone, and from the vent, several inches down- 
ward, cut off all the part which appears to be a receptacle of 



Offer of a new Industry. 437 

clotted blood. Yarrel informs us that " the London market 
is principally supplied from Holland by Dutch fishermen." 
The cultivation of eels and lampreys is now rendered very 
remunerative in Italy and in some parts of Germany. The 
average weight of each is from one to three pounds, but they 
have been known to attain to fifteen pounds' weight. 

THE LAMPREY. 

A member of the Petromyzidce family, constituting the sec- 
tion cyclostomi of the " Regne Animal," distinguished by an 
imperfectly developed skeleton and want of pectoral and ven- 
tral fins, combined with an eel-like form of body. The mouth 
is circular, consisting of a cartilaginous ring formed by sol- 
dering together the palatine and mandibular bones. The 
branchiae, instead of being pectinated, are purse-shaped, and 
open externally by several apertures. 




The Lamprey. — Petromyzon marinus. 

The lamprey is supposed to be the lowest of the vertebrate 
animals. They are usually two feet in length, and the en- 
graving is a fac-simile of them. Having no swimming-blad- 
der, and being also without pectoral fins, they usually swim 
near the bottom ; and, to save themselves from the constant 
muscular exertion which is necessary to prevent them from 



438 Fishing in American Waters. 

being carried along with, the current, they attach themselves 
by the mouth to stones or rocks, and were, in consequence, 
called " Petromyzon," or stone-suckers ; while the circular, 
purse-shaped form of the mouth induced the name " Cyclo- 
stomes," or round-mouthed fishes. 

The lamprey is highly esteemed for the table, and is there- 
fore much sought after in the rivers where it is found. Like 
the eel, it ascends rivers in the spring, and returns to salt 
water in the fall. Sir W. Jardine supposes they spawn in 
fresh water, but he probably confounds them with the river 
lamprey, which is a more common fish, and less sought after 
by the epicure. It is known that the marine lamprey at- 
taches itself to vessels for traversing the coasts, rivers, and 
canals; and some Continental naturalists argue that, as the 
lamprey is much slower than the eel, but visits the upper 
parts of rivers about the time when salmon and shad appear 
there, it must therefore attach itself by its mouth to the sal- 
mon and shad, and is by them towed up the rivers. I think 
the idea absurd, though it has the sort of sanctional belief 
of Doctor Gunther, and that which Professor Agassiz gives 
against the turtle's willingness to be turned on its back. 
That the marine lamprey is a more active fish than it has 
credit for being is probably nearer the truth. 

Both eels and lampreys may be cultivated by cutting ca- 
nals through soft marsh and swamp lands to connect with 
tidal waters, as they redaily enter such inlets for food, and, 
after they grow large and fat, and turn toward salt water, 
close the copper-wire gates on them, and lead them by other 
sluices to chambers from which there is no egress. 

The eel fishery at Comacchio nets annually $70,000. The 
Po is a shallow, sluggish river, which debouches into the 
Adriatic by its legs of the Reno and Volano, between which 
is a large swamp and numerous lagoons. Here eels, which 
enter in the spring and fatten through the summer, are in- 
tercepted on their way back to sea in the fall by closing 
the main outlets, and leading them by devious channels to 



Another Fish Arrived. 439 

pounds prepared for their reception. They are then salted, 
some smoked, some roasted and salted, while the markets of 
Milan, Verona, Padua, Venice, and other cities are supplied 
with fresh ones. The same could be done along a hundred 
rivers on the Atlantic coast ; but we do not yet realize the 
scarcity offish. 

QUEER FISHES. 

The estuary catfish is an oviparous abdominal, and one of 
the recent visitants to our coasts and estuaries from the Ba- 
hama Banks. The first rays of the dorsal and pectoral fins 
are rigid ; second dorsal adipose ; head broad, and depressed 
on the top, with small catfish eyes placed far apart ; long an- 
tennae ; two distinct nostrils at end of nose, with ear-vents at 
the side, below the eyes. It is without scales, and its blue 
back mellows to pink sides and white abdomen. Its colors 
and brilliant sheen are like the Spanish mackerel's, without 
its spots. It is leather-mouthed, and the mouth small, armed 
with a cushion of fine, needle-pointed teeth round the borders 
of both jaws, showing that it may forage on Crustacea and 
the inhabitants of the waters generally. An individual 20 
inches long weighed scant two pounds, and it seldom attains 
to a greater weight than ten pounds ; and, from its great del- 
icacy, it resembles both the lady-cat of the Missouri River 
and the Spanish mackerel of the Atlantic coast. Though 
generally captured in fykes, it is a bottom-biter to the angle, 
with menhaden or shedder-crab baits. 

The silure is a native of the River Danube, and, from the 
high esteem in which it is held throughout Europe as a table 
luxury, acclimatizers and pisciculturists have introduced it 
into most of the waters of Germany, some of France, and a 
few of England. Bertram, in his " Treasures of the Sea," 
says of the Silurus glanis that its character is rather under 
a cloud, as its capacious maw has been said to contain the 
arm and shoulder of a man; and from the immense weight 
to which it attains, of from 200 lbs. to 300 lbs., and the 



440 



Fishing in American Waters. 



knowledge that it is the most voracious of all fresh-water 
fishes, the story gains credence. 

It is a bottom-feeding fish, like the catfish, and, like that, it 




No. 1. Estuary Catfish. No. 2. The Silure, or Silurus glanis of the Danube. 



is a great gormandizer, thinning off the frogs, and proving a 
perfect terror to all young fishes of the ordinary families. 
As fattening this fish for market is very expensive, it would 
'scarcely pay to import it for stocking any of the American 
waters but the Mississippi and Missouri, where it would form 
one more family of the catfish species, and make up their sum 
to six varieties of this ugly-looking delicacy. The London 
Times states that the /Silurus glanis rises to the ponderosity 
of over 300 lbs., and " has been known to reach the enormous 
weight of 54 lbs. in four years ; that its flesh somewhat re- 
sembles veal in appearance, and partakes of the rich flavor 
of the eel." 



SECTION THIRD. 

FISHES FOR ACCLIMATIZING IN AMERICAN RIVERS. 

The Inde, a fish somewhat resembling the shad, grows to 
the weight of nine pounds ; subsists on aquatic plants and in- 
sects ; affords good sport to the angler. It is found in Scan- 
dinavian waters. 



Fishes might Improve by Travel. 441 

The Salmo Hitcho, or the huchen, is a very voracious fish, 
and would do well in our Western rivers. It can be import- 
ed from Huningue. It affords good sport to the angler. 

The Mountain Mullet is said by Mr. Francis to be " one 
of the most delicious edibles to be found among fish." It in- 
habits rapid streams, grows to the weight of two or three 
pounds, is fished for with light tackle, and is rapturous sport 
for the angler. It is abundant in Jamaica, arid the streams 
of the Southern States may easily be stocked with it. 

The Scandinavian Chare is a delicious fish of from three 
to five pounds' weight, is fine game for the fly, and might be 
successfully introduced into the waters of the Northern and 
Eastern States. 

Ombre Chevaliee. — This is regarded as the most rare Eu- 
ropean fish delicacy. It is found in the Lake of Geneva and 
many other waters of Switzerland, its eggs commanding a 
cent each at the fish-cultural establishment of Huningue, in 
France. This fish, of the genus Salmo, and running from 
eight to twelve pounds in weight, may be acclimatized, and 
all the Northern waters in America readily stocked with it. 
So with the Salmo umbla and the scclvalinus. They are rath- 
er more nearly related to the families of salmon and trout 
than are the charr, and from what I have heard of the Moose- 
head Lake trout, I should not be surprised to learn that it is 
an ombre chevalier. 

The Geatling. — This fish affords the fly-fisher as great a 
treat as any fish belonging to the family of the genus Salmo, 
provided it be fished for with delicate fly-tackle. It usually 
ranges from fifteen to twenty-five inches in length, and from 
two to four pounds in weight. The rivers of New England 
and New York might be readily stocked with this white- 
meated luxury. 

A few rivers and lakes south of the St. Lawrence — emi- 
nently those inhabited by pike, pickerel, perch, and the fresh- 
water families of bass — might be economically stocked with 
Maskinonge, which is the head of the genus JEsox as well in 



442 



Fishing in American Waters. 



edible qualities as in size, and in saltatory powers and gamy 
habits while playing on the angler's hook. 

The Winninish, of the upper waters of the Saguenay River, 
in Canada, should by all means be introduced to the rivers 
of Maine and New Hampshire. It is the richest game for its 
size of any belonging to the genus Salmo, and a higher lux- 
ury for the table than any other of the numerous salmon 
families. 

" But, after all," to use an American phrase of emphatic 
significance, the brook trout and salmon of our Northern wa- 
ters are among the best fresh-water fishes in the world for 
both the epicure and the angler. Add to these the numer- 
ous delicacies of whitefish, cisco, black bass, and the farther 
armies of our lakes and rivers, Avith the teeming millions of 
our coasts and estuaries, and we should be satisfied if we 
can continue our present ample store until we can conven- 
iently add a few kinds more. 




The Shokt Sunfish. 



fJctrt £n*tl). 



SOUTHBEN FISHES 



HOW ANGLED FOR. 



CHAPTER I. 

FLORIDA FISHES AND FISHING. 
SECTION FIRST. 

" Oh how blest to dwell forever, 

'Mid these scenes of placid peace ! 
If some power the past could sever, 

If the tones of mem'ry cease, 
Ah ! not Faith herself dare cherish 

Hopes unstain'd by 'wild'ring fears ; 
Could we dream the past might perish, 
What shall quench our future tears ? 
Vale of bliss ? what joy to wander 

Where thy glittering waters flow ! 
Here, e'en Guilt in peace may ponder ; 
Here, Despair forget her woe!" 

To favor the angler with at once a succinct and compre- 
hensive view of Florida water sports, I premise with the 
following communication by the pen of Mr. C , an ac- 
complished sportsman and learned ichthyologist, who has 
devoted several winters to the field-sports of this genial 
climate. 

"Mr. G. C. Scott, in his 'Fishing in American Waters,' 
says, ' It would be well worth while to make an angling tour 
southward in autumn.' I have been making such a tour this 
winter, the results of which I will give you : my first fishing 
was at New Smyrna, near Musquito Inlet, in East Florida. 
Here I found an excellent boarding-house, kept by Mr. E. K. 
Lowd, which is truly the sportsman's home. The sheepshead 
is here the principal fish, and its numbers may be judged by 
an extract from my journal : 

"March 15. Fished one hour on flood tide, with hand-line 
and clam bait, from boat anchored to mangrove bushes — 
fifteen fish, weight sixty pounds. 



446 Fishing in American Waters. 

"March 16. Fished two hours, same bait — seventeen fish, 
weight seventy-one pounds. 

"March 18. Fished one hour, high- water to ebb — twelve 
fish, weight fifty pounds. 

"March 21. Fished two hours, half flood — fourteen fish, 
weight sixty-one pounds. 

"March 22. Fished one hour and a half, young flood — 
twenty -seven fish, weight one hundred and ten pounds. 
Largest sheepshead, seven pounds. 

" I might have caught many more, but it would have been 
a waste of the good gifts, for we could not have used them ; 
what I did catch being ample for the use of the house. Be- 
sides these, we catch the tchiti?ig, a small but excellent fish, 
shaped like the white perch,* double dorsal fin, with strong 
spines' in front; color, gray on the back; belly, yellowish 
white; mouth small, teeth do.; weighs from one to two 
pounds. Also the sea trout, which is well described on page 
82 of Mr. Scott's book, with the exception that I found the 
inside of the mouth yellow, teeth few, but strong. In gen- 
eral appearance it much resembles the lake trout of the 
Adirondacks, and is a very handsome, game fish, of good ed- 
ible quality; weighs from one to twenty pounds. But the 
best and most sporting fish I found here is the reclfish, ox- 
channel bass,\ which bears a general likeness to the striped 
bass (Zidbrax Uneatus) in its excellence on the table, and its 
game qualities when hooked ; fighting to the last, and show- 
ing much sagacity, as well as great activity and vigor. First 
dorsal fin, eight rays, with sharp spines ; second dorsal, twen- 
ty-four soft rays ; pectoral, six rays, soft ; ventral, five rays, 
soft; anal, eight rays, soft; tail, square. Color: back, steel- 
blue; sides, copper-red; belly, white — a black spot, half an 
inch in diameter, at the base of the tail on both sides; from 



* Probably tbe real white perch, which are much larger than at the 
North.— G. C. S. 

t Local names for the spot-tail bass. — G. C. S. 



Fishing to the Heart's Content. 447 

which mavk, if the fish has not already been named, I would 
call it Labrax bimaculatus — the two-spotted bass. In size I 
found it here from three to ten pounds, but am told that it 
frequently is taken weighing from forty to fifty pounds, and 
has been seen of nearly one hundred pounds. We also found 
the scitp* and the sea catfish at Musquito Inlet ; the latter 
like the fresh -water catfish of the great lakes, but a hand- 
somer fish in shape and color — weight, from two to ten 
pounds. f There are also plenty of sharks, rays, and the saw- 
fish, sometimes ten or twelve feet long, with a saw of four 
feet in length. "We find here the green turtle very com- 
mon, and oysters of the best quality every where for the 
picking up. 

• "At Musquito Inlet the redfish were generally about from 
three to six pounds in weight ; but we were told that in 
Indian River we should find them of great size, and that there 
was in that river quite a variety of sporting fishes. So, being 
rather weary of catching the sheepshead, my friend and I 
hired a sail-boat and boatman, put on board a tent, blankets, 
and camp equipage, with some provisions, and started for In- 
dian River. These rivers, as they are called in Florida, are 
like the bays on Long Island ; wide, shallow reaches of salt 
water, separated from the ocean by a narrow sea-beach. J We 
sailed one hundred and twenty-five miles south to the inlet, 
where we camped, and fished for some days. We found here 
the redfish and channel bass in great numbers, and took them 
with mullet bait, cut up as you cut menhaden for the striped 
bass. They were from five to thirty pounds, and full of 
fight and vigor, so that we lost a great many large ones 
from the parting of our lines, which were the best hand-lines 
used by the Newport fishermen. Our hooks were broken, 
our hands were cut to pieces, and we frequently came oif 
second best in our battles with these copper-colored kings 
of the river. With rod and reel of the right sort, the sport 

- * Porgee. t See Estuary Catfish, p. 440. % Like Fire Island. 



448 Fishing in American Waters. 

would be glorious, and several New York anglers so equipped 
have enjoyed it this winter. 

"Besides the bass, we caught at the Indian River Inlet 
the black snapper. Resembles in form the tautog, and be- 
longs, I think, to the Wrasse family; large mouth, strong 
teeth, bites eagerly at mullet, and pulls hard ; is silvery in 
color when first taken, then turns red, and afterward black : 
a rich and savory fish — four to sixteen pounds. 

"Cavallo. — This fish is in form between a dolphin and a 
mackerel; has the brilliant hues of the former; very active; 
a surface fish, going in schools ; takes a red rag or spoon as 
well as mullet bait — from two to fifteen pounds; in taste 
like the mackerel. 

"Sargent Fish. — A rapacious fish, in form like the pike- 
perch, with underhung jaw like the pickerel; silvery sides, 
with a black stripe from gill to tail, whence its local name ; 
lies under the mangrove bushes for prey — weight, from two 
to twenty pounds. 

" Croaker. — In form like sheepshead, but not so thick ; col- 
or, silvery; bites eagerly, and pulls hard. A good fish for 
the table. 

" Of the following we heard, but did not catch them : 
drum, liogfish, bluefish, from six to fifteen pounds — same as 
the Northern fish of the name; Sjjanisfi mackerel, two to six- 
teen pounds ; Jewfish, twenty to one hundred pounds ; bezu- 
ga, said to be the best fish in these waters except the pom- 
pano — weight, one-half to one pound. 

"Pompano resembles the cavallo in form; does not take 
the hook; is always taken in a net by night; best fish in 
Southern waters ; bones boil soft. 

"We found in the St. Johns River the 'black trout,' as 
they call it, but which is almost identical with the black 
bass of the North-west. It grows to the weight of twelve 
pounds, and is very plenty in that river, so that we caught 
numbers of them by trolling with a spoon from a small 
steamer, with one hundred yards of line. Game in this re- 



Sports in the balmy Regions op Beauty. 449 

gion is very plenty ; such as bears, deer, panther, wild cat, rac- 
coon, opossum, gray squirrel, wild turkey, quail, many kinds 
of ducks in vast quantities, curlew, plover, herons, bitterns, 
and cranes. The climate is mild, so that you can live in a tent 
all winter, and there is very little rain except in summer." 

Several gentlemen of my acquaintance — men who have 
seen the world, and either cast a line or carried a gun over 
the most celebrated sporting grounds of the eastern hemi- 
sphere — have for several years past, spent their winters in 
Florida ; and they unite in recommending it for the geniality 
of its climate, the great abundance of sport for rod and gun, 
and for the purity and floral aroma with which the atmos- 
phere is laden, thus rendering the air throughout winter like 
the bland and balmy season at the North when the gardens 
are in full bloom. The magnolia, and many flowers which 
vie with the camellia-japonica, the rose, and honeysuckle, lend 
a fragrance every where, while lemons and oranges are green, 
ripe, and ripening, and the flowering almond and fig trees in 
blossom remind the sportsman of the Garden of Eden. Even 
Italy, with its Cornice Road and cactus hedges, is not so fer- 
tile of winter flowers and fruits as are the American Floridas, 
which promise in course of time, and that not very remote, 
to become the winter residence of an intelligent population 
and present ^he most elegant specimens of architecture ; and 
besides the railroads in every direction, there will be drives 
more beautiful than the Pradas of Vienna and Florence, with 
labyrinthine walks and paths for horseback riders, by which 
the peninsula will cast into the shade all other countries in 
Christendom, for its beauty of scenery, its mild climate, its 
fragrance and floral beauty, with its incomparable out-of- 
door recreations. 

Florida is pre-eminently the place to sojourn in winter. 
Not only does it contain sports for the angler and gunner 
throughout the inclement season of the North, but to the 
aged and infirm it offers restoration, and brings back the 
vigor and elasticity of youth. 

Ff 




Spot-tail Bass. — Corvina ocelata, or "Labrax bimaculatus," the two- 
spotted bass. 

CHAPTER II. 

SECTION FIRST. 

This fish is particularly described by our learned corre- 
spondent, C ; therefore I have only to state that the en- 
graver cut out one of the spiked dorsals, as there should be 
eight ; though the fish after which I made the drawing from 
still-life had a lunated instead of a square tail. Otherwise, 
it was in all particulars like the bass described by C . 

Dorsal fins and caudal, black ; all other fins red ; dark gray 
back and sides ; white abdomen ; steel-blue head and jaws, 
covered with scales, and armed with sharp teeth ; scales rath- 
er large, and the ends dark-colored. 

It will be observed that the head and mouth resemble our 
kingfish, except wanting the barb under the lower mandi- 
ble ; it is therefore -necessary to fish with a striped bass hook, 
about No. V, made of heavy steel wire and well tempered. 
Those of the Virginia shape, with short bend, or like the Isl- 
and Club hooks, would be preferred. Fish with strong bass 
tackle, the rod about nine feet long, two joints beside a stiff 
lancewood top, with agate or bell-metal tip. A reel large 
enough to carry two hundred yards of thirteen-strands linen 
line. A bright bait — the side of a scup or shedder-crab are 
the most attractive. The habits of the two-spotted bass, or 
spot-tail, are quite similar to those of the striped bass of 
Northern waters, seeking at the first turn of flood -tide 
along the shallows and weedy shores for crustacea and 



TO ENJOY THE PeKFUME OP THE IKDIES. 451 

the small fishes which delay. too long their weedy shelters 
by the hope of picking up fresh delicacies in approximate 
danger. 

By the following extracts from a letter by Isaac M'Lel- 
lan, the poet, written at Smyrna, on Halifax River, inviting 
me to Florida, the reader will find further items of interest. 
The rivers along the coast are like the bays of New Jersey, 
separated from the sea by a sandy beach, or like the Great 
South Bay, protected from the heavy waves of the Atlan- 
tic by Fire Island. To quote : " In these rivers are found 
sheepshead and many other kinds of fish in great plenty. 

A Mr. B , from Brooklyn, who is a great angler, has been 

staying here for some time, and says the fishing is ' too 
good.' He gets from fifty to one hundred sheepshead ev- 
ery time he goes out, besides many channel bass, of from four 
to twelve pounds' weight each. This is the spot-tail bass." 
* * *■ "As to shooting," he states, "there is no end to the 
feathered and fur game." * * * "To get here: Take steamer 
from New York for Savannah, or take a through ticket to 
Jacksonville, by which you will save several dollars, and you 
may remain in Savannah, if wishing to stop, and thence you 
may either go by railroad or steamer on the through ticket. 
Heavy fishing-tackle, heavy spoons, such as are used on the 
great lakes, and such as are used in trolling for bluefish and 
Spanish mackerel." [Also take the smaller feathered spoons, 
to troll on the rivers of the interior for the black bass, which 
is similar to the Oswego bass.] 

"Bring a double duck -gun, and a lighter one for the 
woods, and a rifle — breech-loader, if possible. Bring your 
ammunition, especially if you use fixed. You will want a 
row-boat and a cat-rigged sail-boat, with flat floor and a cen- 
tre-board. The boats you can procure here. 

" If, at this place, you could be at a central point whence 
to sail up and down the rivers of bays, you would find it a 
real paradise for sportsmen." 

The spot-tail bass is said to be numerous in the Gulf of 



452 Fishing in American Waters. 

Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and all over the Bahama Banks, 
along the coast of Florida, and as far north as South Caro- 
lina. As a dinner fish, it is generally regarded by the epi- 
cures of New York as superior to the sheepshead — the hith- 
erto alderrnanic dinner fish par excellence. 

This beautiful, gamy, and excellent fish is coming north- 
ward. It is now more numerous annually off the Carolina 
shores ; and, like the sierro (cero), cavallo, and bonetta {bo- 
nito), may soon become another valuable gem to our coast 
fishermen, if perchance the menhaden is spared, as the most 
attractive bait-fish in the world, to allure the rich fishes of 
that vast area known as the Bahama Banks. 

It is interesting to notice that the debris from the currents 
around the north of Ireland and the east of Baffin's and 
Hudson's bays are forming the prospective new continent 
included in the area of Newfoundland, Anticosti, and the 
Georgia Shoals, and that the subsidence of the tides about 
the Bahama Banks and Florida Reef are enlarging the isl- 
ands. These phenomena neutralize the temperature of the 
Gulf Stream between the Northern and Southern great 
banks, so as to form the Atlantic shore between them into 
the most extensive feeding-ground in the world. 

Fishings for the rod and reel on the bays and estuaries 
along the Atlantic coast south of New Jersey, having hith- 
erto been approximately neglected by lovers of field sports, 
we hope soon to learn that these Elysian fields and waters 
for the disciples of Fishrod and Nimrod are being enjoyed 
in proportion to their attractions. Our wealthy gentlemen 
who like angling, trolling, and shooting, should erect winter 
dwellings in Florida, and maintain boats and shooting-boxes 
there. 

"Oh! dulcet is the poet's rhyme, 
When the angler goes a-trolling ; 
Dulcet and glad the river's chime, 
A psean in the march of Time ! 
When the angler goes a-trolling." 



Studying up the Subject. 



453 



SECTION SECOND. 

ue initial letter friend hav- 
ing had an intimation 
that good angling could 
be had in Florida, conclu- 
ded to purchase an Izaak 
Walton, and peruse it so 
as to learn how to tie flies 
and take trout, with oth- 
er game fish, according to 
the highest style of art. 
He is pleased to think 
that he can study and an- 
" Would you Sbeak mit Mb?" gle at the same time. 
While at this double occupation, he is called upon by the 
" hydragos," to learn whether the angler wished to speak 
with him ; he probably wanted to bargain for larger bait. 

The red snapper is rather more chubby in shape than the 
striped bass, being between that and the tautog, or black- 





The Red Snapper. — Lutjanus ay a. 

fish, of the coasts of New Jersey and New England. It is 
clothed with very large scales, covering the body and the 
lower half of the head. The first dorsal is spiked, as is also 
the anal, with one sharp and strong spike at front of the fin. 
It has a rather large mouth, armed with sharp and powerful 
teeth, but not so closely set as are those of the bluefish or 
the Spanish mackerel of our waters. It is therefore good 



454 Fishing in American "Waters. 

sport to rod and reel, or with the troll, biting readily at a 
silver or pearl squid, or to a hook baited with a piece 01 
mullet or porgee.- 

The color of this fish is vermilion on the back and a light- 
er tint of red as it approaches the abdomen, which is a light 
pink. The eyes are red, with black pupil. Its average 
weight is about twelve pounds, though it attains to very 
great weight — some say one hundred pounds. Its meat is 
creamy white, flaky, and juicy ; and by many is supposed to 
be the best dinner fish of the coast. 

The red snapper is found in greatest numbers in the bays 
of the Bahama Banks and the Gulf of Mexico and the Flori- 
das ; but it is taken throughout the western archipelago. It 
spawns in the spring season, and, like the striped bass and 
others of that genus, it requires from one to two months to 
lay its eggs. 

This fish belongs to the same genus as the black snapper, 

which my learned friend C thinks may belong to the 

Wrasse family, though I believe it is one of the bass or 
mackerel tribes. It is quite certain that it is an excellent 
commercial and game fish, affording capital sport, and I 
leave the rest to the " scientists." 




Long-barred Mullet. 

The long -barred mullet is an excellent trolling bait for 
these waters, and the manner of mounting it upon hooks tied 
on wire-gimp snells, with a loop to attach to a swivel and 
gimp leader, forms the best spinning tackle wherewith to 
troll with rod and reel, or to angle in a swift current on the 
bay-rivers of Florida; but the hooks should be of heavier 
wire than those represented. 



The young Darkies' Dread. 455 

The kingfish of the West Indies is numerous along the 
southern shores of the Caribbean Sea, around the islands of 
steep shores and deep waters of the West Indies, and in the 




The Kingfish. 



Gulf of Mexico. It is also found in the bays off the Florida 
shores. It is one of the swiftest fishes, more active than the 
dolphin, and does not wait for the flying-fish to alight on the 
wave, but leaps high above it and takes his prey on the wing. 
He is a terror to young Indians, who dare not bathe when 
naked, for fear of losing a finger or toe, while occasionally one 
perdres son vie by those steel jaws and teeth, which are as sharp 
as a surgeon's knife, and clip off a digit quicker than a flash. 

The color of the kingfish is dark blue above the lateral 
line, and lightens toward the belly, where it is a light gray. 
The first dorsal is spike-rayed, while the first ray of the sec- 
ond dorsal and top of pectoral fin are each guarded by a spi- 
nous ray. Like the Spanish mackerel and bonetta, the tail 
is framed at top and bottom by a rigid bone frame, so that 
it never falls together, but, to make up for the otherwise 
want of balance support, there is a short row of fins on each 
side, extending from the root of the tail three to four inches 
up the side. The back fins and upper part of caudal are 
black, and the others gi'ay. Covered throughout, except 
the top of its head, with infinitesimal scales on a tough skin, 
it presents the appearance, when' first captured, of burnished 
steel. It ranges in weight from eight to forty pounds, and 
its sweet and juicy meat renders it a great delicacy, whether 
boiled, broiled, or formed into chowder. 

This fish will take a hook disguised by white or red cloth, 



456 



Fishing in American Waters. 



or a bone or metal squid, and when hooked in trolling will 
leap ten feet above water several times, and show the most 
vigorous play of any fish belonging to the mackerel tribes. 
It is said that small ones, of from ten to fifteen pounds 
weight and from thirty inches to four feet in length, are fre- 
quently taken with rod and reel, gimp snells, and strong 
hooks, in the bay rivers along the southern shores of Florida. 
A fish of such rare edible qualities and great sport is worthy 
a long journey to capture with rod and reel. Small mullets 




Cross-barred Mullet. 

form a favorite bait for both trolling and still -baiting for 
any of the surface-biting game fishes of the Atlantic coast. 
A mullet rigged by pinning his jaws together with a hook, 
as here shown, breathes freely through the undisturbed gills, 
and will live several hours, whether trolling or still-fishing. 



SECTION THIRD. 




The Grouper. — Epinephalus, St. 

This fish weighs from fifteen to seventy-five pounds; or 
those which are sold in the Southern markets range be- 



A Fish woeth taking. 457 

tween those weights. I should suppose it belongs to the ge- 
nus Tunny, were it not for its short, square-ended fins, its 
large scales and chubbed form, being both wide and thick, 
with a huge head and large mouth, armed with numerous 
short and sharp teeth, in several rows on each mandible; 
it is, therefore, unlike any other fish of our bays, being much 
more powerful than the drum, and several fold larger than 
the sheejjshead or sea bass, these being the fishes which it 
most nearly resembles in outline. The top of its head is 
black, and the ends of all the fins but the pectoral are edged 
with an inch-wide band of jet black; the rest of the fins being 
neutral-tinted, the back, a dark brownish gray, fading regu- 
larly toward a white abdomen. This is eminently a South 
American fish, which forages north as far as extend the Ba- 
hama Banks. It feeds on such Crustacea &■& crabs, mussels, 
soft-shell clams, shrimp, and does not refuse eels, butter-fish, 
mullets, and porgees. Besides its large jaws and numerous 
teeth, its first dorsal is strongly spiked, as is also the top ray 
of its pectoral fin ; and it is further armed with a short and 
strong spear on the outer gill-cover each side of the head, as 
represented by the white triangular figure on the gill ; and 
the grouper has the power to turn its point at right-angle 
with the body, or to lay it down flat in its sheath on its huge 
and powerful gill-cover. The grouper is an excellent dinner 
fish, and when boiled and served with drawn butter and 
shrimp or lobster sauce, is said to fully equal the turbot. 

It is taken in nets and on the troll. It plays very vigor- 
ously, alternately leaping and plunging, contending for some 
half an hour on the strongest-armed metal squids, and which 
he often crushes and escapes, though the hand-line to the 
troll be manned by an experienced and expert fisherman. 

It frequently gives trollers in the Gulf of Mexico and in 
the bays around Florida a test of its qualities for game. The 
following sketch is intended to represent a student belonging 
to the Hand-line Committee, who concluded not to be trou- 
bled with holding his line, so fastened it to his leg ; and when 



458 



Fishing in American Waters. 



reading up to the most interesting part of an eventful story, 
succeeds in getting the bite of a grouper! 




Both the red and black drums aiford the angler great 
sport ; but for the table the red drum is infinitely the supe- 
rior of the two fishes, which are the most numerous in the es- 
tuaries and bayous of Florida; also very plenty along the 
coast of Virginia during the month of May. They are occa- 
sionally taken in the bays of New York in August and Sep- 
tember. They range in weight from ten to eighty pounds ; 




The Red Dkttm. — Pogonias chromis. 
and though a bottom-biting fish, when hooked they make 
long runs, and show most generous play. They are fond of 
mussels, clams, and oysters, while they fairly revel on soft- 



Lawyees among Oystees. 459 

shell and shedder crabs ; and it is usually on this latter bait 
that anglers take them in New York waters. 

Mr. 1ST. Saltus, a coast angler, who usually spends his win- 
ters in Florida for the sake of its excellent fishing, thus writes 
me : " The drum fishes are found in the month of February 
in Indian River, Florida, and about this time they commence 
their northward trip for summering. About the first week 
in March they enter the Matanzas and the St. Augustine 
inlets, where for the next three weeks they may be heard 
drumming, as they feed on oysters and have in their throat 
a crushing mill, where they grind the oyster-shell, extracting 
the oyster [equal to a lawyer] and rejecting the shell, the 
crushing of which makes the drumming sound, after which 
the fish is named. Early in April they appear in the rivers 
about Beaufort, South Carolina, and about June 1st are dis- 
covered at Cape May, which is near the limit of their north- 
ern trip. A few stragglers extend to the waters about Staten 
Island. They run in shoals, and weigh from eight to a hun- 
dred pounds; but forty to sixty is the run of large ones. 
When caught with a bass rod and reel they make fine sport, 
but they play low. A ' baby drum' of from five to ten 
pounds is as fine eating as any fish; but larger than ten 
pounds they increase in coarseness, though a good table fish 
as a boiler from twenty to thirty pounds." 

The drum is in New York considered a game fish, and 
Mr. Brown, of the Latourette Club, won " high-hook" at a 
contest in Newark Bay, in August, 1872, by capturing a for- 
ty-pound red drum. 

The red drum is red on back, fins, head, tail, and white ab- 
domen. Its mouth is armed with a forest of fine teeth, cov- 
ering the border of the mouth for a half inch all round; and 
in its throat it has an upper and lower millstone, by which 
it crushes oysters, clams, and mussels, and producing a sound 
like the beating of a muffled drum. Its fins are formed of 
soft rays, as represented by the engraving, which is a very 
exact likeness, even to the square tail and large tongue. 



460 



Fishing in American Waters. 




The Pompano. — Trachynotus Carolinus. 



CHAPTER III. 

SECTION FIRST. 

This excellent broiler is an equally good boiler; for, ac- 
cording to Mr. C , " its bones boil soft." It is a delicious, 

creamy luxury, melting in the mouth, and without any for- 
eign taste, it being the best possible in itself. It is mullet- 
mouthed ; never takes a bait except by mistake. It is caught 
by nets set in the night-time. It is supposed to spawn in 
spring-time, each pair of fishes producing a shoal of fifty 
thousand or more ; but as it does not become abundant, 
not a market ever having been known to be glutted with it, 
tithes of each shoal must go to satisfy the capacious maws 
of the dolphin and numerous shoals of rapacious food-fishes, 
which get partly paid for it when they undertake to swal- 
low a squid or bait with a hook in it. 

The weight of the pompano is from half to a pound and a 
half. There are three movable spikes at front of the dorsal, 
being its only protection, except that it is a swift swimmer, 
and can lie closely hidden against the rocky bottom. Its 
infinitesimal scales radiate the light, and when alive it is a 
sparkling gem. In tints the pompano is decked with all the 
colors of the rainbow, blended so as to sparkle, and form of 
it a gem of superior brilliancy and beauty. 



A BEAUTIFUL LUXURY. 



461 




The Crocus. — Micropogon costatus. 

This is the best pan-fish or broiler, not excepting the pom- 
pano or Spanish mackerel. It is a mullet, of course, and even 
better for the table than the black mullet. It is a small 
drab fish, with soft-rayed fins and square tail. The small 
corrugated rayures on the fins and above the lateral line 
form a lively relief. The fish runs from a quarter to a half 
pound, and is eminently a string pan-fish. Mr. Terry, the 
principal fish-dealer in Charleston, South Carolina, recently 
sent me a string of fish, including the crocus and pompano, 
when I found the crocus superior to all the others as a 
breakfast dish. 

It is taken in fykes of very small meshes, or by fishing for 
it in the manner of taking smelt, as described elsewhere. 

"A merry fish on a stallion hair, 
! Tis a pleasant thing to lead 
On May-days, when the cowslip fair 
Is yellowing on the mead." 

This tiny fish, of from one-fourth to a half-pound, is found 
near the banks along shore from Virginia to Florida, for- 
aging in shoals, and keeping close to overhanging shores 
shaded with low brambles. It bites readily to a small clam 
bait or shrimp, and is a lively fish 
on delicate tackle. The annexed 
sinker is easily adjustable to any 
depth of water, by a wire at each end extending beyond the 



462 



Fishing in American Waters. 



SECTION SECOND. 




The Cavallo. — Species of Carangus. 



This is a beautiful and excellent fish of the Florida waters. 
It is beginning to visit our bays and inlets, the first hav- 
ing appeared along the New Jersey coast, and between the 
Narrows and Fire Island, in 1871, and every summer since; 
but, like the advent of the bouetta, which has now become 
too numerous, it advances in small shoals, like scouts sent 
out to find foraging-ground. Without doubt, the menhaden 
(vulgarly called moss-bunker) is the chief bait-fish which has 
attracted the half-dozen families of excellent food-fishes from 
the Bahamas and the Southern coasts within the past ten 
years, headed by the Spanish mackerel, and the cavallo and 
pompano bringing up the rear. 

The pompano having a wide reputation for being one of 
the best breakfast fishes in the world, and the cavallo resem- 
bling it in shape and beauty of tints, sparkling with small 
scales, the fish-dealers at once called it the pompano, and it 
commanded over a dollar a pound ; but as it became more 
abundant, and the real pompano appeared, it fell below the 
Spanish mackerel in price. 

The weight of this fish is from three to fifteen pounds; 
and it will be seen by comparing the engravings from the 
drawings made of the fishes when present, that the cavallo 
is a much more beautiful fish in outline than the pompano. 



A Delicacy migrating Northward. 



463 



The dorsal and anal fins are rigid, and there is a sharp 
spike just forward of the anal. The curved lateral line from 
the gill to the centre of the body is continued to the caudal 
by a line of prickly bones, which form its chief protection. 
The color of the upper fins is neutral, with a reddish tint ; 
the lower ones a light ash color. The back of the head is 
nearly black, the back being dark purple of brownish shade, 
lighting to the lateral line, below which it is a light rose 
and azure blended on a most brilliant sheen, descending to a 
satin-white abdomen. 

The cavallo is very numerous in the saline rivers of Flori- 
da, and along the coast to the Carolinas. It is a surface-bit- 
ing fish, forages in shoals, and may be taken on an attractive 
, troll, either metal, pearl, bone, or with red cloth; but it is 
well to ornament a bone or metal squid with red silk. It 
also affords excellent sport when taken on the usual rod and 
reel bass tackle. Its fine teeth seldom part tackle, and as it 
is one of the most active of all food-fishes, it may be properly 

regarded as one of the angler's luxuries. Mr. C very 

properly states that its form is between the dolphin and 
mackerel, and in taste it resembles the latter. 




Lafayette : The Spot. — Leiostomus obliquus. 
This fish is a luxury for both the angler and epicure. It 
is nearly or quite identical with the little luxury taken in Oc- 
tober in our waters, and known as the Lafayette, because it 
made its first appearance in waters about New York the same 
year that General Lafayette visited America the last time. 
Its shape is like the porgee, and ornamented with diagonal 



464 Fishing in American Waters. 

dark bars on each side, and a black spot just back of the gills 
on each side of the body. 

The natural feeding -ground of this excellent pan-fish is 
the waters which wash the shores of bays and estuaries on 
the coasts of Virginia and the Carolinas. Its weight is from, 
one-fourth to a pound and a half; but generally about a half- 
pound. The edge of the small mouth is thickly covered with 
very fine short pin-teeth, merely forming a rough edge to the 
jaws. 

The colors of the spot are a blackish green on the back, 
fading to a yellowish drab at the sides, and white abdomen. 
The dorsal fins are separated, though both soft -rayed and 
nearly black, as is also the caudal fin ; but the pectoral fin is 
light yellow, and the belly fins are white. The top of the 
head is black ; eye yellow, with black pupil. The meat is 
white and succulent ; will fry in its own fat. It is taken on 
light bass tackle, with trout hooks and fine linen line. All 
lines for use in salt water should be of linen, for silk is too 
elastic to respond, and it wears out sooner than linen. Be- 
sides, the perfection in the make of linen lines renders them 
fine enough for almost any kind of fishing. The favorite 
baits are soft and hard clams ; but it will take shedder-crab 
and small bits of any shiny parts of the white mullet, or scup. 
The Virginians call this fish the " spot, or salt-water roach." 
Its scales are very small, and the fish is beautiful when first 
taken from the water; and its meat being compact and rath- 
er solid, it does not soon deteriorate. It is taken from the 
first of June to the middle of October. 

Few anglers about New York properly appreciate the 
Lafayette ; they confound it with the sand-porgee, which is 
one of the. smallest and most worthless of the bait-thieves 
that infest the waters in October about the metropolis; 
whereas it is the most delicate pan-fish that rubs its scintil- 
lant sides on the rocky shoals above Fort Wadsworth and 
off Rabineau's Point, at the confluence of Kill-Van-Kull and 
Newark Bay. 



A Governor's Table Luxury. 



465 



The spot taken in Northern waters are so small — seldom 
weighing over a quarter of a pound — that it is best to fish 
with small brook-trout hooks, single gut leader and snells, 
and bait with small pieces of clam or shrimp. If anglers 
will rig for them about the 20th of October, and bait and 
fish carefully with a pair of small trout-hooks, they will be 
rewarded with messes of pan-fish superior to any which the 
New York markets afford at that time of year. 



SECTION THIRD. 




The Virginia Hogfish. — Lachnolcemus caninus. 

This fish differs greatly from the hogfish of the Bahamas 
of page 98. While it offers good sport to the angler, it is 
a superior table luxury, being so oily as to fry itself; and its 
white and juicy meat is sweet and of excellent relish. The 
dorsals and caudal fins, with the top of the head, are black ; 
black back, and fading to a light-gray abdomen, with pecto- 
ral, anal, and ventral fins a gray, with yellowish tinge. The 
irregular marks with which the fish is ornamented are a gold 
color. This fish is toothless, except very fine pin-teeth in the 
edge of the jaws and on the palate. Its weight is from a 
half to two pounds ; bites at clam, shedder, and small bright 
bits of the scup. It is taken on light bass tackle, bites read- 
ily, and gives good play. 

The shadine belongs to a family of the mullet tribes ; is 

Gg 



466 



Fishing in American Waters. 



from the size of a minnow, or shiner, to the length of nearly 
a foot. It is a very active and vigorous bait-fish, as scintil- 




The Shadine. 

lant as a diamond. It is taken in great numbers in the bay- 
ous of New Jersey, where it is preserved in olive-oil, and put 
up like sardines. It is a new luxury ; but it is here intro- 
duced as the best bait-fish, for either trolling or still-baiting 
in a swift tideway, of any on the Atlantic coast. 




The Silver, or Gray Mullet. 

This is a beautiful fish, white and scintillant below the 
lateral line, with infinitesimal scales. Its favorite feeding- 
ground is along the coasts of Maryland, Virginia, and the 
Carolinas ; its weight is from a quarter to two pounds ; very 
tender, toothless mouth ; to be fished for with fly-hooks, like 
the smelt, baited with a bit of fish or clam. Back of head, 
black ; dorsal and caudal fins, dark-gray ; lower fins, very 
light. 

The white mullet is taken in the bays and saline estuaries 
of the Carolinas and Virginia, in night-time, by rigging a 
punt with boards painted white and attached to boat at 
each side, and lighted by a pine-knot fire on the bow of the 
boat, when one person rows gently, and a second person raps 
with his hands each side of the boat. Attracted by the 
light, the white boards at the sides, and the thumping noise 



Melting-in-mouth Delicacies. 



467 



made by the caller, the fish leap into the boat by hundreds; 
and it is said that if the light is not extinguished, the white 
mullet will leap into the boat in such numbers as to swamp 
it. It seems almost a fish story, but the retailers of the story 
are so numerous and respectable that I believe it implicitly. 




The Black Mullet. 

This fish is regarded along the coasts of Virginia and 
North Carolina as the best pan-fish of Southern waters. Its 
marks of black on a light gray and shining white body ren- 
der it singularly picturesque. It is captured by thousands 
daily throughout the summer and up to November in nets ; 
while anglers, with light tackle and very small hooks, find it 
interesting sport, as it is a ready biter, and evinces such sur- 
prise at hooking itself that it darts about spasmodically, 
shakes its head, and never yields to be taken into the boat 
until it swoons. It is taken on very light tackle, single-gut 
leader, and fine round gut snells, with small trout -hooks. 
Bait with small bits of fish or clam, and fish with the ad- 
justable float, as represented below. The float is adjusted 
to the depth of water by an end of wire extending from 
each end of the float beyond the ring. By this method the 
float may be more easily attached to the line, and changed 
to suit different depths of water, than the old style of trout- 
float. A copy of the float is given below. 



468 



Fishing in Ameeican Watees. 



CHAPTER IV. 

FRESH- WATER FISHES OF THE SOUTH. 
SECTION FIKST. 




White Perch, of Mississippi. 

This fish was taken at the head waters of the Chickasaw 
River, Mississippi, by Mr. B. F. Moore, Jun., of Meridian, Mis- 
sissippi, who has done me the favor to furnish the Southern 
trout (channel cat) ; and at his instance Colonel James F. 
Taylor, of Raleigh, North Carolina, furnished me with the ex- 
cellent drawing and description of the chub-robin, one of the 
gamiest small fishes of any water. 

The white perch of the South is the most beautiful fish of 
the numerous Percidw tribes. It inhabits ponds and run- 
ning streams ; loves eddies and deep holes, schooling in fall 
near a shaded bank or brush in the stream. It bites almost 
exclusively the minnow, preferring a live one, but was never 
known to bite a worm. It bites throughout spring and sum- 
mer, and is the latest biting fish in autumn. Its best months 
for biting are October and November, though it is a very 
wary biter, seldom sinking the float — a decided nibbler; bites 
like a minnow, while swimming, and tows the cork along on 
the surface of the water. Its mouth is very tender, and it 
is difficult to land, for the hook often parts from its paper 



Charming Sport on presh-water Streams. 469 

mouth. It deposits its eggs in July and August. The flesh 
of the white perch is white, no small forked "bones, having 
a delicate flavor, but not equal, perhaps, to the best of the 
genus JPercidce. 

The united dorsals comprise six spinal and fourteen soft 
rays ; caudal, seventeen soft rays ; anal, six spinal and seven- 
teen soft rays; ventral fin, one spinal and five soft rays; pec- 
toral, thirteen soft rays ; eyes large and bluish, with black 
pupil; length of head, compared with body, as three and a 
half to eleven ; mouth large, and armed round the edge with 
two or three serrated rows of small teeth, with teeth also on 
the palate ; seven gill rays. Though white and sparkling, it 
is ornamented with bluish rays on the body and fins, with, 
medallions on the caudal. The color is white below the lat- 
eral line, and pale blue above. The white perch is not mi- 
gratory, and it attains to the weight of five pounds or more. 




Southern Chub, or Trout. 

Six branchiostegous rays; first dorsal, nine spinal rays; 
second dorsal, one spinal and twelve soft rays ; caudal, eight- 
een soft rays, slightly lunated ; anal, three spinal and ten soft ; 
ventral, one spinal and five soft ; pectoral, thirteen soft rays. 

This fish is evidently a perch-chub. It has teeth on the 
edge of both mandibles, like a perch, and on the palate like 
the chub and other leather-mouthed fishes. This fish is not 
known in Northern waters. The fish from which this draw- 
ing was made was taken in a stream near Meridian, Missis- 
sippi. For the table it is considered the best fresh-water 
fish of the Southern States. It weighs up to ten pounds ; 



470 



Fishing in American Waters. 



have heard of larger ones, but its usual weight is about 
three pounds. It inhabits both jDonds and streams ; is non- 
migratory. Bites at feathered squids, flies, minnows, but 
seldom at worms. The color above lateral line is blue, fad- 
ing to creamy white below middle of side. Mouth large, 
and lower jaw projecting; has card-like teeth on the upper 
and lower edges of the jaw; eye large; throat and breast 
always white. Very active and strong ; spawns during all 
the summer months; bites best in fall and spring. The 
perch -chub should be angled for with regular black -bass 
tackle, the rod being pliable, but with snap enough in the 
lance-wood top to respond and hook the fish at first inten- 
tion. — B. F. Moore, Jun. 

SECTION SECOND. 



/ / AJ.J-..A. A 4 j 

i 

'.'": ' ■■■■'■.■ 




Chub-Robin. — Pomobis rubellus. 

This gamy little pan-fish inhabits many streams and lakes 
of the South and South-west, but its natural latitude is from 
Virginia and the Carolinas, westward. My brother having 
taken it in Western Missouri, induced me to procure a draw- 
ing and description of it, wdiich has been done by a true an- 
gler and ichthyologist, Font Taylor, Esq., of Raleigh, North 
Cai'olina. 



Pretty Sport for light Tackle. 4 71 

This fish differs in weight, like most other fishes, from its 
food and its habitat. In lakes it is larger than in streams. 
It is eminently a fresh-water fish, and not at all allied to the 
sea-robin (Prinotus lineatus). 

The chub-robin ascends the Neuse River about the last of 
February, same time with the robin-red-breast thrush {Tardus 
migrator his). The bird winters in the Eastern Carolinas, 
and so does the chub-robin fish ; both red-breasted, and ap- 
pearing - at same time of year, there was thought a resem- 
blance, and named alike the Pomobis erythonoventralis, " red- 
throat;" and this fish is more widely disseminated in the up 
country, and is a finer flavored pan-fish than the calico bass 
(which is similar to the " speckled hen" on page 285, only the 
spots are larger and more irregular). 

The chub-robin averages from a half to a pound in weight, 
and is the gamest fish on the rod of all the minor fauna of the 
Percidce tribes. 

First dorsal, ten spinal rays; second, eleven soft; anal, 
three spinal and ten soft ; ventral, one spinal and five soft ; 
pectoral, twelve soft ; caudal, sixteen soft rays ; scales rather 
large ; black spot at the upper end of gill, on body ; dark- 
gray back and fins, yellow sides, and red breast and abdomen, 
with the lower fins reddish and yellow ; eyes rather large, 
and little pin-teeth on rim of jaws. 

This ravenous little fish bites at worm or fly, and never 
backward, but wondrously astonished and angry when hook- 
ed, showing fight until exhausted. 

Angling for the chub-robin is fine sport on delicate tackle, 
and the fish will sometimes take very small minnows ; but the 
white grub- worm is its delight. 

Of breams in American waters the Gyprinus (carp-bream) 
is the largest, and both families are found in our lakes ; while 
in some small lakes in South Carolina the Abramis is numer- 
ous, and excellent sport. It is one of the most wary fishes, 
and old anglers state that it keeps sentinels stationed over 
its feeding-ground during the feeding-times, from five to nine 



472 Fishing in American Waters. 

in the morning, and from four in the afternoon until dark. To 
take this cunning fish, it is necessary to use great circum- 




The Bream. — Cyprinus brama, and Abramis chrysoptera. 

spection and fish with the most delicate hair or silk line, with 
the finest silk- worm gut for leader. 

"Where'er you ply, your labor will be vain, 

If you the rules of art do not attain ; 

For diff'rent waters cliff 'rent species yield, 

The angler's art commands the widest field." 
"The trout prefers a very rapid stream. 

While the placid lake pleases best the bream. " 

The Abramis brama, or common bream, attains to the 
weight of ten pounds, and is very prolific. It used to be re- 
garded in Europe as worthy of stately dinners ; but since 
the Salmo?iidm have become more common, this fish is chief- 
ly cultivated in Germany for profit, and generally caught in 
nets; but in France it is still appreciated. 

It is covered with scales of medium size. In coloring, its 
back is a gray bleuetre, fading to light bluish gray at the 
lateral line, with a white abdomen ; the superior fins dark, 
and lower ones very light gray. It has a forest of little teeth 
in its small mouth, and a hard throatal cartilaginous bone in 
the throat which helps mastication. 

The milter has two bags of milt, and the spawner two 
bags of spawn. Like other members of the family Pleuro- 



Delicate Angling with a Float. 



473 



Ktctidce, it is remarkably prolific ; and as it is really a game 
fish which affords excellent sport with very delicate tackle, 
it would be well to stock the lakes in the Middle States with 
it, where it is much less numerous than in Southern waters. 

For baits, it will take gentles, angle-worms well bleached 
in moss — and fennel is said to be good to mix with moss ; 
grasshoppers with the legs taken off; a paste made of brown 
bread and honey. 

Use fine horse-hair and silk lines with quill-float, and fish 
near the bottom. There is a pond near the junction of the 
railroads from Augusta and Columbia toward Charleston, 
which has become celebrated for bream of best quality, and 
it used to be a great resort. 



SECTION THIRD. 

THE CHANNEL CATFISH. 



f protectionists, the strong- 
est and most unselfish mem- 
ber of the amphibia is the 
bull-frog. Thus far his pro- 
tection has not been proven 
to extend to other inhab- 
itants of the waters than 
the bullhead, and of course 
,/ its congener, the catfish ; and 
the bullhead may perhaps 
/ be — by some inscrutable 
distribution of nature — a 
congener of both ; for he 
is generally found in the 
same fishing - holes. — Vide 
Dr. White's opinion, as given on page 434. 




474 



Fishing in American Waters. 




Channel Cat. — Abdominal. — Malacoperygii. 

This fish is equally good for game and the table. The fish 
from which we made the above copy of a drawing was taken 
in the Chickasaw River near Meridian, Mississippi, by B. F. 
Moore, Jun. It is also known there as the croaker and blue- 
cat. 

There is a scarcely perceptible lateral line running from 
gills down the centre of each side to tail, above which the 
color is blue, as are also the superior fins, the lower ones be- 
ing nearly white, and the sides are light bluish-gray to an 
inch below the lateral line, the abdomen being satiny white. 

Pectoral fins, one spinal and eight soft rays; ventral, sev- 
en soft rays ; anal, thirty soft rays, rooted in an adipose 
membrane ; caudal, eighteen soft rays, very forked ; first 
dorsal spinal, and six soft rays ; second dorsal, adipose ; two 
barbels or feelers, one each side of upper lip, length of tail' 
about one-fifth of the fish ; two very short barbels on the top 
of the head; four barbels on .the chin, two each side; branchi- 
ostegous rays, three; head one -sixth of the whole length. 
Mouth very small for a catfish ; with brush-like teeth on up- 
per and lower lips, and card-like teeth on the upper and low- 
er sides of throat near the maw ; four gill-rays, and a sem- 
blance of a tongue filling the entire lower jaw; eyes large; 
throat and breast always white. Runs in small streams from 
one to five pounds in weight; but in the Upper Missouri 
River, where they are regarded as superior to any other fish, 
the trout included, they attain to fifteen pounds, and even 
more. It is there called by some the lady- cat, because of its 



Missouri River Sport. 475 

great beauty and symmetry, while it is as active as any risk 
known ; and, on landing it, the fish croaks : hence it is known 
by some as the croaker. 

It never inhabits lakes, but its habitat is the channel of 
clear streams. This fish bites every month in the year, but 
best in February, March, and April. Its favorite bait is 
crawfish, but it seldom refuses a live minnow. 

The channel cat offers as good play as the trout, and when 
angled for with fine tackle the sport is unsurpassed. He 
makes the reel hum ; and if the line is not kept clear on the 
reel and the fish played gingerly, so as to make him contend 
for every foot of line, he is quite sure to part tackle. 

Very interesting sport in fishing for the channel cat is in- 
dulged on the Upper Missouri River, by both ladies and gen- 
tlemen. The following is the modus operandi: A party with 
several scull boats rendezvous above a rapid in the river, 
and to the handles of several dozens of empty jugs, well 
corked, they attach to each a line about four feet in length, 
rigged with a strong hook, well baited, when they throw 
over the jugs, and let them drift down stream. Then the 
party usually regales itself with a luncheon, after which the 
rowers start to pick up the floating jugs. Presently several 
of the jugs are seen to dive here and there, and the rowers 
follow them up until the fish become fatigued, and, prone on 
their sides, they float on the surface of the stream, and are 
easily lifted into the boats. A catfish dinner and a hop 
usually winds up the day's recreation. 



art Sere tt tl). 



MISCELLANEOUS FISHES, 



HOW TO TAKE THEM. 



CHAPTER I. 

MISCELLANEOUS EISHES. 
SECTION FIRST. 

LAKE TROUTS. 

The non-migratory lake trouts of North America, as far 
as has been yet ascertained, comprehend three forms, to 
which the following specific names have been given : the 
Namaycush, or Great Trout op the Lakes ; the Togue, 
or Gray -spotted Lake Trout; and the Siscowet. The 
first was described by Pennant at the close of the last cen- 
tury, the second by Dekay in 1842, and the third by Agassiz 
in 1850. According to the present state of our knowledge 
of their haunts, it appears that the namaycush inhabits the 
great lakes extending from the Northern United States to 
the Arctic Sea. The togue is said by some writers to fre- 




The Togue 



mo conjinies. 



quent only the New England, Nova Scotian, and New Bruns- 
wick lakes, including the State of Maine; while the siscowet 
is seemingly restricted to Lake Superior, where Agassiz also 
recognized the namaycush. But little is known of their hab- 
its ; moreover, several instances have occurred lately of one 



480 Fishing in American Waters. 

or other of these trouts turning up in lakes where their pres- 
ence was unsuspected. It is, therefore, not unlikely, when 
their geographical distributions are better worked out, that 
this seeming partiality to certain waters may, after all, be 
more apparent than real. Further, it appears that their 
claims to be considered distinct species, rest altogether on cer- 
tain minor details of structure and coloring in each, which, 
however, have been further abridged by late researches. 

I therefore — and for other reasons — believe all lake trouts 
to be non-migratory, and to partake of peculiarities produced 
by habitat. For example, the Seneca and Canaudaigua lake 
trouts are far more beautiful and finer flavored than the Ca- 
yuga Lake trout. The reason may be that the two former 
lakes are more profound and of mineral bottom, while the 
latter is shallow, with vegetable bottom. These lake trouts 
are gray-bodied, more or less clouded according to age (the 
young only being clouded), and they are further marked 
with vermicular tracery, and have fins placed like those of 
the salmon, but not the same shape. They are fork-tailed, 
but not so finely lined in all their proportions. The trout 
of Moosehead Lake and of a few lakes in New Brunswick 
are said to be the best for the table. They are scarce, and 
are never found south of the Boston fish markets. 

The namaycush is one exception to all other lake trouts, 
being what is termed, on page 265, the Mackinaw trout, its 
habitat being Lake Superior. This fish is supposed by nat- 
uralists to be a distinct family of lake trout. It is larger 
than any other lake trout, and a more delicate and succulent 
fish than any other conjlnies, except the siscowet and those 
of Maine and New Brunswick. 

The namaycush is generally taken in winter through the 
ice by hand-lines; for it would be superfluous to troll for 
him in summer iii fifteen hundred feet depth of water, as 
there is no summer market for him, and the angler can find 
abundant sport more attractive. 

"A distinction between the Mackinaw salmon (namaycush) 



ONE OF THE BEST SPORTING FlSHES IN AMERICA. 481 

and the other two, togue and siscowet, consists in the ven- 
tral fin being placed farther back on the former, and the tail 
being more forked. They have also a double row of teeth, 
extending a half inch backward on the vomer. The teeth, 
gums, and roof of mouth have a tinge of purple, hence Mitch- 
ell's name, ' amethystine salmon.' " — A. Leith Adams, M.A., 
M.B.,F.R.S.,F.G.S. 




The Siscowet. — Salmo siscowet, Agassiz. 

The siscowet is known by this native name, apparently 
in contradistinction to the namaycush, both being found in 
Lake Superior. This fish is said to be plentiful about Isle 
Royal — a large island near the north-west shore of Lake 
Superior. Agassiz gives this fish the following distinctive 
characters : The lower branch of the pre-operculum, a, is 
more extended than the upper, b. The pectoral fin, c, is 
longer, and farther from the gill opening than in either the 
other trouts; and the dorsal, d, is said to be larger, with a 
more slender and less club-shaped adipose fin, e. The anal, 
f, is as long as the dorsal, but not so wide. 

The cisco, or ciscoquette, of page 293, as a congener of 
the lake herring, is a mere clupea, while the siscowet is the 
nearest approach -to the real salmon of any lake trout. The 

following extracts by our learned friend C- (who favored 

me with notes on Florida fishes), will be found interesting 
to disciples of the gentle wand, and I give them as follows : 

" You mention the cisco, and it appears that you may have 
confounded it with the siscowet, which is a good salmon, 
having all the marks of that family, while the cisco is a 

Hh 






482 Fishing in American Waters. 

small fish of the herring family ; it seems to be the connect- 
ing link between the families of corregonus and clupea. It is 
found in all the great lakes, and in some of those of the sec- 
ond class, such as Geneva, or Big Foot Lake, in Wisconsin, 
where the annual catch of ciscos takes place on the 15th 
of June. They feed upon the eel, or shad-fly, a species of 
ephemera which makes its appearance in the lake region 
about the middle of June in immense swarms, and lasts only 
two or three days. At Geneva Lake the cisco is only seen 
when this fly is on the water ; then the whole, ten or twelve 
miles long, is covered with fish breaking the surface, and 
all the anglers in the country are there at work. I went 
there once from Milwaukee, on the 16th of June, and found 
the fish had appeared with the flies on the 14th, and when 
I arrived had returned to the depths. 

"I think if you were to pass a summer among the lakes 
of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the trout streams about 
Lake Superior, you would collect material for a capital book. 
Lake Superior is the great home of the salmons, and would 
itself occupy the naturalist for months to study its fishes 
thoroughly. There is a river on the north shore, very little 
visited, called the Nepegan, which is, I suppose, the best 
trout stream in America. I have the outline of a brook 
trout, twenty- one and a half inches long, and five deep, 
which weighed four pounds when cleaned and smoked. This 
I received from a party of anglers of St. Louis, on their 
homeward trip. They had a barrel of these smoked trout, 
with many as large as the one I outlined, which must have 
weighed six pounds when caught. They had none less than 
two pounds, and the average weight of their takes daily was 
over two pounds each fish, and a fish at eveiy cast on a sin- 
gle fly. These gentlemen, who were persons of education 
and general intelligence, assured me that they had found a 
land-locked salmon on the north shore of Lake Superior, be- 
sides the Salmo namayciish and Salmo siscowet, and that 
they twice took the whitefish with the fly on the lake." 



Salmon-fishing in Oregon. 



483 



The siscowet is eminently an angler's fish ; rising gener- 
ously to the fly, and like the winninish, or great northern 
char, it averages in weight from three to nine pounds. It 
will also take a feathered squid, and vies with the large 
brook trout in the northern part of Lake Superior, for both 
its offer of sport, and its superior edible qualities. 



SECTION SECOND. 
the California salmon. — Salmo quinnat. 




My initial friend having learned that the son of an English 
diplomat advised his father to "give the Yankees 54° 40', for 
the salmon out here (Oregon) won't rise to a fly," concluded 
to try them with a cast of Irish flies, and found the salmon 
as eager to taste them as he could wish. 

At our present writing, perhaps there is no better salmon- 
fishing in the world than is to be found on many rivers in 
Oregon ; and as to artificial flies, they are as well mounted 
and tied in New York as in any city in the world. There 
is a marked difference between the salmon in the Northern 
Oregon rivers and those of California. The former are si-mi- 



484 Fishing in American "Waters. 

lar to the salmon of the rivers, emptying into the River and 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, the real salmon and worthy head of 
the iSalmonidce. 




California Salmon. 

This fish differs from the Eastern salmon in being much 
wider according to its length, the flesh red instead of pink, 
and not so firm as the Salmo solar. In other particulars it 
is like the salar. It thrives in warmer waters and in streams 
of vegetable bottom ; spawns in less time than the Eastern 
fish, and is scarcely so good a fish for the table. On another 
hand, it is a more profitable fish than the Eastern salmon, 
for it grows faster, and in waters of not so frigid a tempera- 
ture; hence it is well adapted to the Avaters of Pennsylvania, 
and perhaps to those of Maryland and Virginia. 

In 1872, the subject of importing fecundated salmon ova 
from California to the States on the eastern slope was sug- 
gested, and in that year Mr. Livingston Stone — under the 
auspices of the Federal Government, through Spencer F. 
Baird as its commissioner — went to California in August ; 
and, by the aid of the California Fish-Culturist's Association, 
received the right to erect hatching-houses on the M'Cloud 
River, three hundred miles north from San Francisco. Hav- 
ing succeeded in importing to Troutdale, New Jersey, several 
thousands of fecundated ova, they were there hatched and 
placed in the Delaware River, where a number of grilse from 
that planting have since been taken; some, it is said, of 
from eight to ten pounds' weight. Since 1872 many East- 
ern rivers have been stocked with California salmon, and 
it is confidently anticipated that the Delaware and Sus- 



Another Gem of the Watees. 



485 



quehanna rivers will soon teem with a salmon as beauti- 
ful, and affording as good sport as does the salmon of the 
North-east. 

Although I am credibly informed that salmon will not 
rise to a fly in the Sacramento River, yet they rise generous- 
ly on its tributaries. Of course they will rise in the upper 
waters of the Delaware and Susquehanna, for its eastern con- 
gener of the artificial stock has been found to rise for flies 
in the Connecticut River, and the California branch is said to 
be the most rapacious, and more willing to risk all for a fly, 
of any of the salmon families. 

"A birr! a whirr! a salmon's on, 
A goodly fish, a thumper ! 
Bring up, bring up the ready gaff, 
And when we land him we shall quaff 

Another glorious bumper! 
Hark ! 'tis the music of the reel, 

The strong, the quick, the steady : 
The line darts from the circling wheel ; 

Have all things right and ready." — Stoddart. 

SECTION THIRD. 





IP 

The Grayling. — Thymallus signifer. 

This fish is a member of the family or tribe -Salmonidce, 
and is termed by Linnaeus Salmo thymallus; by Cuvier, 
Thymallus vulgaris; by Agassiz, Heckel, Kner, and other 
naturalists, as Thymallus vexillifer. 

Although anglers meet the grayling in a few of the trout 



486 Fishing in American Waters. 

streams in England, and on the continent as far north as 
Russia, and south as far as Italy in very many of the salmon 
rivers and trout streams, yet it is by no means a common fish 
in Europe ; while in America it is found in but a few rivers 
in a small part of the Canadian dominion, and in the United 
States only in a few streams in Michigan, as between Grand 
Traverse Bay on the west, the Straits of Mackinaw on the 
north, and Thunder Bay on the east. It has been discovered 
in Au Sable River at the south ; so that it probably inhabits 
many of the waters of Northern Michigan, and in the great 
North-western territory it will probably be found in many 
rivers. The grayling is also said to be numerous in Mon- 
tana in the streams entering the Missouri River above the 
falls. W. V. Spencer, late of the United States Army, is sup- 
posed to have given the fish its proper name in Montana, in 
1867. The discovery of the grayling in Montana was high- 
ly appreciated, both because it is a superior game fish, and it 
is in season in the late autumn, when trout are spawning and 
unfit for food. 

For the benefit, therefore, of anglers and epicures to whom 
the grayling is an entire stranger, I will jot down his princi- 
pal marks and characteristics, so that the fish may be easily 
distinguished when taken. 

The name "Thyrnallus" is probably derived from its smell- 
ing like wild thyme ; and in some places where it is called 
"umber" it is because of its color and its fleetness — umbra, 
" like a shadow." 

Izaak Walton states : " First, note that he grows not to 
the bigness of a trout, for the biggest of them do not usual- 
ly exceed eighteen inches. He lives in such rivers as the 
trout does, and is usually taken with the same baits as the 
trout is, and after the same manner ; for he will bite at both 
the minnow, or worm, or fly, though he bites not often at the 
minnow, and is very gamesome at the fly, and much simpler, 
and therefore bolder than a trout ; for he will rise twenty 
times to a fly if you miss him, and yet rise again. He has 



A Trial foe Anglers with horse-hair Snells. 487 

been taken with a fly made of red feathers ; and he will rise 
at a fly not unlike a gnat or a small moth, or indeed at most 
flies that are not too big. He is a fish that lurks close all 
winter, but is very pleasant and jolly after mid-April, and in 
May, and in the hot months. He is of a very fine shape; his 
flesh is white ; his teeth, those little ones that he has, are in 
his throat ; yet he has so tender a mouth that he is oftener 
lost after an angler has hooked him than any other fish. 
Though there be many of these fishes in the delicate River 
Dove, and in Trent, and some of the smaller rivers, as that 
which runs by Salisbury, yet he is not so general a fish as 
the trout, nor to me so good to eat or to angle for, and so I 
shall take leave of him." 

"Genus Thymallus, Cuvier. — Of this genus the grayling 
{Thymallus vulgaris) is the type. The fish is common in 
some of our streams, but is a local species. It differs chiefly 
from the trouts or salmons in having the mouth less deeply 
cleft, the orifice square, the anterior dorsal very high, and 
the scales larger." — Penny Cyclopaedia. 

In France the grayling is classified with the genus Ombre 
(umber), of which there are several families in the streams 
of Europe ; and the Ombre commune, or grayling, is charac- 
terized by a very small, squai-e mouth, like that of the smelt 
or the mullet, but provided with numerous infinitesimal teeth 
far back in the mouth, on the roof or palate ; by scales, rath- 
er large and very exactly placed, one lapping another ; by a 
high and wide first dorsal fin, which commences much farther 
forward than others of fishes belonging to the genus Salmo, 
and by its close resemblance to the trout in internal confor- 
mation. 

" The grayling, though sufficiently common in divers points 
of France, is rarely seen in the markets of Paris. It is one of 
those beautiful fishes of the fresh waters. Nothing so grace- 
ful as its gradual elongated form from the front of its high 
dorsal to its tail. Nothing is more elegant than its na- 
geoire dorsal, a magnificent sail, very long, and of a remarka- 



488 Fishing in American Waters. 

ble height. It is only necessary to compare him with other 
fishes for judging why he is so fortunately conformed for 
easy and rapid swimming. Fishermen are often ready at 
seeing the fishes traverse the limpid stream, but the gray- 
ling renders unavailing the exercise of the eyes. It has 
passed like a shadow — comme une ombre." — Emile Bjlanch- 
ard, Member of the Institute, Professor of Natural History , 
etc., Paris. 

The dress of the grayling, though extremely modest in 
tone, being a shining steel-color, and its polished scales with 
borders of yellowish tinge, are so exactly placed as to ap- 
pear like mosaic; and the yellowish ends and black base, 
with the top of head black, and the dorsal fin divided by 
small transversal stripes of black, with its abdomen like 
white satin, and white inferior fins shaded with yellow at 
their base, renders this fish so peculiar that no one could 
mistake it. The number of scales in a line from head to tail 
vary from eighty-five to ninety along the lateral line, and 
there are from seven to eight rows each side of said line. 
The scales are detached with the utmost ease, when each 
one is a gem of beauty. They are a trifle wider than long, 
with angular borders gracefully festooned and regularly 
concentrated. The number of rays of the dorsal fin exceeds 
those of any other of the Salmonidee tribe, there being from 
sixteen to eighteen. The tail is forked, long, and narrow. 
The second dorsal is adipose, and the pectoral, anal, and ven- 
tral fins are large for the size of the fish, and as transparent 
as gauze. 

The grayling remains on its reddes, or spawning- beds, 
during winter, and lays its eggs during the latter half of 
February and the first half of March. The eggs are very 
numerous, and they hatch in about a fortnight, being a short- 
er time than is consumed by any other of the Salmoniclce. 

The grayling is eminently a summer and autumn fish. It 
is generally regarded as a good table fish, and "Father 
Izaak " says that it should be scaled with the hands, without 



A new Specimen for Fish-culturists. 489 

applying a knife, the flesh is so tender. It is of delicate 
flavor, some persons considering it the queen of delicacies, 
while others terra it the flower of fishes. 

It is but natural that the discovery of grayling in Ameri- 
ca should have been made by anglers. My attention was 
called to the fish about seven years ago by Mr. Samuel C. 
Clark, I think, as the first. Since then I have heard annual- 
ly of the Michigan grayling, and of the poachers harvesting 
them with nets and spears while the fish were on their spawn- 
ing-beds; but I concluded that the sportsmens' clubs of the 
State would apply for legislative aid to protect so rare a 
fish for the rod and the table; but it appears from a letter 
by D. H. Fitzhugh, Jun., that the race is being depleted as 
fast as the indolence and cupidity of the poacher will permit. 

In angling for grayling, use small flies. Mr. Fitzhugh, 
who appears to be the discoverer of the grayling in An sa- 
ble River, Michigan, purchases his flies from Andrew Clerk 
& Co. ; and he has probably instructed them as to the most 
taking fly. Mr. Mather, the fish-culturist of Honeoye Falls, 
New York, regards the grayling as superior game to the 
trout, and fly-fishing on the River Ausable, in Michigan, and 
taking grayling from a half to two pounds each, as equal 
sport to the best trout-fishing in America. He also states 
that the grayling is easier cultivated than the trout, eating 
far less to keep in good condition. Seth Green thinks to 
the contrary ; that grayling will not live in the same stream 
with trout, because the trout will feed on them. This can 
scarcely be the case, as the grayling is the swiftest fish of 
fresh waters. There may be other conditions to render the 
grayling difficult to propagate ; but it should be tried, and 
it might be important to consult Mr. Mather as to the con- 
ditions necessary for stocking streams with this rare and 
delicate luxury to both the angler and epicure. 



CHAPTER II. 

SECTION FIRST. 

THE RED BASS OP CANADA. 




Who would 'ave thunk it! 

This fish is taken in the waters which empty into the 
Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. Its weight ranges from 
three to fifteen pounds, and is very high game, while it is an 
excellent dinner fish. It affords rare sport for farmers' boys 
on rainy days, when they can not work out-of-doors. They 
use the red angle-worm, and the white grub taken out of old 




Canadian Eed Bass. 



A Luxury long misnamed. 491 

soft maple and cherry logs; or they bait with minnow or 
crawfish. The red bass is a good biter, and a wondrous 
saucy fish on the hook, leaping, running, and jerking as if 
greatly astonished. 

The first dorsal includes seven spiked rays, the anal one. 
The soft -rayed fins are distinctly illustrated. The tail is 
square, or, rather, rounded a trifle at the end, the reverse of 
lunated. It is armed with a forest of small teeth, as an in- 
side border of the mouth, a half-inch wide or more, and there 
are teeth in the throat. I am not aware that the fish has 
been classified ; but as an angler's fish it is a luxury. It 
takes the troll readily, especially the feathered spoon of 
McHarg. 

The back of the fish is a dark-brownish purple, fading to a 
pink at the lateral line, with a white abdomen. The dorsals 
and upper part of the caudal are the same color as the back, 
while the pectoral, ventral, and anal are a light pink. The 
top of the head is black, with a tinge of red ; large eyes. 
The meat is entirely white, juicy, and flaky; more rich, 
sweet, and juicy than any other fresh-water bass. 





Otsego Lake Bass. — Corregonus alosa. 

This is a very delicious whitefish. Once in a great while 
it is taken on a feathered or small silver spoon, by trollers; 
but its mullet mouth is too tender to hold a hook, and it is 
eminently intended to be caught in nets. 

This whitefish has been called the Otsego Lake bass for a 
hundred years, and it is only within the past ten years that 
the propriety of this appellation was questioned ; but with 
the inauguration offish-culture in this country, the stock of 



492 Fishing in Amebic an Waters. 

domestic fishes was canvassed, and fish nomenclature has 
undergone some change. This fish is more like a cross be- 
tween the whitefish of the great lakes and the families Cht- 
peidce. It is neither so white or oily as the whitefish of 
Lake Ontario, nor has it the large scales and thin shape of 
the herring or shad. The body is nearly as wide as it is 
deep ; the meat is white, sweet, and rich, but not so adipose 
as the common whitefish. I believe Seth Green is endeavor- 
ing to disseminate this great table luxury by artificial prop- 
agation. The whitefishes of Seneca and Canandaigua lakes 
are nearly or quite as good a fish as is that of Otsego Lake, 
misnamed a bass. 




Genesee River Mullet, or Red Horse. 

This is a sucker-mouthed carp (Cyprinus), being the prob- 
able link between the sucker and the carp. It ranges in 
weight from one pound to forty, and the scales are very 
large. The fish is a light orange and gray on the back, or- 
ange fins, and approximately orange head below the top, 
which is dark gray. It inhabits many streams of soft sur- 
face waters. Youth think fishing for red horse in Genesee 
River very great sport ; for when it occasionally sucks in 
the bait of angle-worm, grub, or crawfish, it plays very vigor- 
ously. It has teeth on the tongue and palate, and enjoys a 
wonderful conceit of itself, sometimes trying to imitate the 
trout and black bass in rising to a fly ; but it is naturally 
a bottom feeder, to be angled for with a small and strong 
hook, baited with the red earth-worm, after the bait has 
been scoured in moss several days, so as to be tough and 
transparent. The meat is about as savory as a sucker, but 
not so bony. 



A School-boy's holiday Recreation. 493 




The Horned Dace. 

This is eminently the school-boy's fish of the Middle States. 
Its burnished steel scales and fins, the latter edged with 
bright pink — like ribbon trimmings — and with its dark steel 
top of head armed all over with little points, render it, next 
to the brook trout, the prettiest fish of our small streams. 

It rises generously to the fly, preferring the red ibis, and 
when I have been wading a trout stream and fishing with 
the fly, this pretty rogue has annoyed me frequently by tak- 
ing the fly before the more wily trout had made up its mind 
to. It is an excellent pan-fish, and will take angle-worm ea- 
gerly; thus conferring great recreation to recuperate stu- 
dious school-boys on Saturdays and during vacations. It 
is to be fished for with light perch rod, trout - hooks, light 
sinker, and quill -float. The size of the horned dace runs 
from one to three-eighths of a pound. 

The smooth-headed dace is a congener of the horned dace, 
and by many supposed to be the female. It is a fish of 
about the same size and appetite, though more plain in ap- 
pearance, being a light gray with white abdomen. 

The brook chub also disports in the same waters with 
these dace. It is a fish of about the same size, gray on back 
and sides, drab fins, and white belly. It is sprinkled all over 
with jet-black dots, no larger than a dot in writing. It is 
also a greedy fish for angle-worm ; and in large creeks it 
rises to the phcmptitude of a quarter of a pound. It is not 
at all like the river and lake chub, which sometimes scales 
three pounds ; and though they will also take the fly — great- 



494 



Fishing in American Waters. 



ly to the annoyance of fly-fishers for trout at sundown — yet 
they affect liver. Liver is an excellent bait for almost any 
brook fish. 

SECTION SECOND. 
the whiting. — Merlangits vulgaris. 

The whiting is a delicious table-fish, found in comparative 
plenty on the British coasts. This fish is by some thought 
superior to all the other Gadidce. Very little is known of 
its natural history. It deposits its spawn in March, and the 
eggs are not long in hatching — about forty days, I think, 
varying, however, with the temperature of the season. Be- 
fore and after shedding its milt or roe, the whiting is out of 
condition, and should not be taken for a couple of months. 
The whiting prefers a sandy bottom, and is usually found a 
few miles from shore, its food being much the same as that 
of other fishes of the family to which it belongs. It is a 
smallish fish, usually about twelve inches long, and, on the 
average, two pounds in weight. — J. G. Bertram. 




Whiting, of Newport, Ehode Island. 

This fish is of very recent discovery on the American 
coast ; and as usual, in reference to rare fishes, I first saw it 
at Sutherland's restaurant, in Liberty Street. It is very del- 
icate, precisely like the whiting of England, and generally 
taken with a deep-sea trawl about six miles seaward from the 
Newport shores. It is to be hoped that so great a luxury 
will be more generally sought for, and soon be so cheapened 
by abundance as to become a commercial fish. The fish is 
white-meated, and silver-white below the lateral line, and 



Specimens for the Hand-line Committee. 



495 



light gray above it. Light gray fins, with which it is ad- 
mirably furnished for great fleetness. The scales are infini- 
tesimal. The flavor of the fish is remarkably delicate, tender, 
and sweet, without bones to trouble the epicure. 




The Ling. 

This is a congener of the cod and haddock, belonging also 
to the Gadidce family. It is a commercial fish, and taken on 
the hand-line when fishing for cods, with menhaden, capelin, 
spearing, or smelt as baits. It is a common coast fish, all 
the way from Nantucket to the Georgian Bay. 




Gurnard. — Genus Trigla, Yarrell. 

This is a harbor channel fish, vulgarly known as the sea- 
robin, because it croaks like a tree-toad. It is without scales, 
but the top of its head and gill-edges are armed with prickly 
bones, besides its spiked dorsals. Its long pectoral fins are 
like wings ; and when lifted from the water, in lieu of a beau- 
tiful kingfish or sea bass, the angler can hardly repress a 
hard word for the bait-thief, which costs the anglers about 
New York several thousand dollars annually for the bait it 



496 Fishing in American Waters. 

consumes. The gurnard and channel-crabs are the greatest 
annoyances to anglers on Jamaica Bay or the Great South 
Bay ; for when paying three dollars a dozen for shedder-crab, 
to have them destroy a couple of dozens in a day, and oblige 
the angler to retire from the contest minus a mess of fish, it 
is rather trying to the patience. Anglers have many trials 
of patience, and they sometimes serve as lessons. Gurnards 
are generally bottom-biting, and their thefts of bait teach 
the angler to fish with a moving bait. The angler with rod 
and reel, if he fishes with still-bait on the bottom, is no more 
an angler than is a member of the Hand-line Committee. 
There are some very game fish which are always bottom- 
biters, such, for example, as the sheepshead. For such fish 
you should let your sinker feel along over the feeding-ground, 
not letting it rest more than a half-minute in a place. Still- 
baiting from a boat in bays and estuaries is beautiful sport ; 
for, being away from shore on the water, there are no con- 
fused noises to disturb meditation, and the sights of the 
shores and waters are more enchanting than when viewed 
from any other position. 

"Now fleecy clouds, and gently warming beams, 
Alternate, overshade and gild the streams : 
And, like the wicked, fish unalarm'd view 
Their fellows perish, and their path pursue. 
Fish have their various characters, defin'd 
Not more by form or color than by mind ; 
We cheat the finny fools, ourselves as blind, 
Fools, in our turn, are cheated by our kind!" 



APPENDIX. 



ii 



APPENDIX. 



COOKERY ADAPTED TO THE RESOURCES OF SPORTSMEN 
IN THE WILDERNESS OR ON THE WAVE. 

ooking in the wilderness is a 
high art. It is not sup- 
posed that these simple di- 
rections will be of service 
to that class of sportsmen 
who take to the woods or 
water a retinue of cooks 
and attendants, but they 
may be of use to those 
who have a keen appetite 
for the more rugged feat- 
ures of such a life. 

An officer of the Ameri- 
can Army, who made me 
several valuable contribu- 
tions to this department, 
states : " A sportsman ig- 
norant of these matters is an entire stranger to that which 
constituted in my day one of the most agreeable phases of 
fishing and hunting life. With some knowledge of the sub- 
ject, he can at least instruct others if he dislikes the practice 
himself; otherwise he becomes a mere dependent on those 
who may be more ignorant than himself. On the plains of 
the West, in the lake region of Canada, in the lower prov- 
inces, and on the waters of Maine, he might, and would, of 
course, subsist, and so would the Indian and the Esquimaux, 




500 Appendix. 

but with this difference, that while the latter are ignorant 
of any better or more agreeable food, the modern sports- 
man would be half his time hankering after his flesh-pots at 
home." 

BOILING POTATOES. 

Wash them, cut off each end, put them in a pot of cold 
water, with a tea-spoonful of salt for every quart, cover them 
with a lid, and let the water merely cover them ; place them 
over a good fire, and boil so fast that the water tumbles, un- 
til you can stick a dining-fork easily through them ; then 
pour all the water off, and take the lid off, placing the pot 
on some embers beside the fire. Do not leave the least wa- 
ter in the pot, or it will steam them, and prevent them from 
drying mealy. 

BOASTING POTATOES. 

Wash and cut off the ends of the potatoes (especially the 
seed-end) and, when dry, draw the coals of the fire forward 
and place the potatoes on the embers, cover them with hot 
ashes, then with embers, topping off with coals, and after they 
have been roasting half an hour, try them. 

QUICK-MADE YEAST. 

Take a pint of new milk, a tea-spoonful of salt, and table- 
spoonful of flour, and stir well together ; set it by the fire 
and keep it lukewarm, and it will be ready for use in an hour. 
It is necessary to use twice the ordinary quantity of this yeast, 
and it must be soon used or it is good for nothing. It is suit- 
ed to make biscuits in a hurry, but bread made of it dries 
soon. 

QUICK-MADE BOLLS. 

Mix well together one quart of flour, two small tea-spoon- 
fuls of cream of tartar, one tea-spoonful of soda, and one pint 
of milk, and bake immediately. 



Appendix. 501 



FRENCH ROLLS. 

Take one egg, one cup of milk (or water in lieu of it), three 
spoonfuls of leaven, one spoonful of butter, a little salt, and 
as much flour as will make it a thick paste; then make it 
into rolls, and when well risen bake them in an oven, covered 
dish, or fry-pan. 

A PERFECT OMELET. 

Take six eggs, leaving out the whites of two ; beat them till 
they are very light, and add pepper and salt to your taste ; di- 
vide two ounces of butter into small pieces and put them into 
the eggs. 

Put a quarter of a pound of beef or veal drippings into a 
fry-pan, and when they boil put in the eggs ; fry gently till 
of a light brown on the under side ; add parsley if you wish 
it plain, and then double it over and serve. 

If you wish it of cheese, beat it in with the eggs in an 
earthen dish if you have one. For veal, ham, kidney, or oys- 
ters, they must be first cooked, and then put in just before 
the omelet is doubled over. 

SCRAMBLED EGGS. 

Beat six eggs enough to mix white and yolk together; put 
two ounces of butter in a pan set on the fire, and when melt- 
ed, take off the pan, and add salt, pepper, and, if you like, a 
pinch of nutmeg ; mix it in ; then add the eggs, with a table- 
spoonful of gravy or essence of beef; put the pan again over 
a slow fire, stir constantly till cooked to suit, and serve warm. 

TO PRY SALT PORK NICELY. 

Cut it in thin slices, and put it in a fry-pan covered with 
hot water; let it boil up once, and then pour it off; shake a 
little pepper over it ; let it fry on both sides in its own fat, 
then take out the pieces and add to the gravy a large tea- 
spoon of flour ; stir it till smooth and free of lumps ; then add ' 



502 Appendix. 

a cup of milk ; stir over the fire a few minutes ; shake more 
pepper over it ; then pour it over the pork, and serve ; or thin- 
sliced boiled potatoes, or fried or boiled cold parsnips, may be 
fried in the gravy when the pork is taken out. 

CLAM OE OYSTER FEITTEES. 

Open and dry them with a towel; mix two well-beaten 
eggs, somewhat less than half a pint of thin liquor and half a 
pint of milk (or the same quantity of liquor in addition if you 
have no milk), with a pint of flour; beat it thoroughly to- 
gether till it is free from lumps ; then stir in the clams or oys- 
ters ; cut up some salt pork in small pieces, and try it out in 
a fry-pan, and remove the pieces of pork. When the fat is 
boiling hot, put in your clams or oysters with a large spoon, 
with one or two clams, etc., and batter in each spoonful. Let 
them brown, and then turn them over ; as soon as done, re- 
move them from the pan, and lay them on a gridiron with a 
dish under it to catch the drippings. There should always 
be enough fat in the pan to cover, or nearly cover the frit- 
ters. 

SMOKED BEEF AND EGGS. 

Shave half a pound of beef thin, and if very salt put it in a 
fry-pan and cover it with boiling water ; set it on the fire and 
let the water come to a boil, then pour off the water ; put in 
a piece of lard, beef drippings, or suet cut fine, about the size 
of two hens' eggs ; shake pepper over it to taste, and fry for 
a few minutes over a quick fire ; then pour over it as many 
well-beaten eggs as you please; stir up all together till the 
eggs are cooked to taste, and serve. In lieu of eggs, dredge 
the beef over with flour, or add a tablespoon or two of canned 
tomato, if you have it. 

HAM GEAVY AND TOAST. 

Take the remains of a ham ; break or saw the bones small ; 
put them in a sauce-pan with hot water enough to cover 



Appendix. 503 

them ; let them simmer slowly over the fire till the marrow 
is extracted from the hones, then take the pan off the fire and 
strain the contents; add a little pepper, fine sage; dredge in 
a table-spoon of flour previously browned in a fry-pan, and a 
tea-spoon of butter ; set it over the fire again and stir for a 
few moments ; lay your toast in a dish, and pour the gravy 
over it, and serve hot. 

COEN-MEAL FEITTEES. 

Beat three eggs very light ; then mix them with a pint of 
milk, a tea-spoon of salt, and enough yellow meal to make a 
thin batter; have lard, beef drippings, or pork in a fry-pan 
boiling hot, and then put in the batter with a large spoon, 
and fry each side brown ; when done, put them in some dish 
where the fat on them can drip off. 

FRIED POTATOES. 

Peel and cut raw potatoes, thick or thin ; let them lie in 
salt water as long as convenient ; have your fat very hot ; put 
in your potatoes, and as soon as brown remove them with a 
skimmer into some perforated dish, or on a cloth where the 
fat can drip from them and leave them dry and crisp. The 
fat must be as hot as possible. 

VENISON" SAUSAGES. 

Take equal quantities of the odds and ends of raw venison 
(or other fresh meat) and old salt pork ; chop fine ; add pep.- 
per and sage, or other herbs to taste ; make them into small 
cakes, and fry in a pan without any fat, that in the sausage 
being enough. Venison is best ; the meat from the neck and 
fore-quarters is as good as any other part for this purpose ; 
three tea-spoonfuls of sage, one and a half of salt, and one of 
pepper' to a pound of meat is a good proportion. 



504 Appendix. 



VENISON SAUCE. 



Half a pint of port or other wine made hot, a table-spoon- 
ful of pulverized white sugar, currant jelly, and a piece of 
butter the size of an egg, will make an excellent sauce. 

LIVER, AND KIDNEY BROCHET. 

Split the kidney (if of beef ) lengthways in four equal parts ; 
then cut them crossways into pieces about half an inch thick. 
If they are of smaller animals, cut them crossways only, and 
in all cases remove the fat and the stringy parts ; then cut 
your liver and salt pork as near as maybe of a size and thick- 
ness of the pieces of kidney ; put a piece of kidney on a skew- 
er or stiff piece of wire, then a piece of pork, then a piece of 
liver, then a piece of pork, then a piece of kidney, and so on 
till the skewer or wire is full; press them well together; 
drive two small crotched sticks into the ground before the 
fire, and rest the ends of the skewer on each crotch ; put a 
dish under it to catch the drippings; turn and baste from 
time to time till the pork looks dried ; or bake them in an 
oven with the ends of the skewers resting on the edge of a 
tin dish. Either kidney or liver alone with pork is just as 
good. 

SCALLOPED OYSTERS. 

Drain a quart of oysters from their liquor ; butter the sides 
and bottom of a deep tin dish, and put in the bottom a layer 
of bread-crumbs or grated biscuit ; season the oysters with 
pepper, salt, and a little mace or nutmeg ; cover the crumbs 
with a layer of oysters, and spread over them several small 
lumps of butter ; then add another layer of crumbs, and 
again a layer of oysters, and so on till the dish is nearly full ; 
let the last or top layer be of crumbs, and fill up with the 
oyster juice ; cover the pan with a tin plate (if you have 
no bake-oven) ; then put live coals on and under it, and bake 
brown. 



Appendix. 505 



FRESH MACKEREL A LA MAITRE D'HOTEL. 

Split the fish along the back ; wipe it clean and dry ; pour 
over it oil, with pepper and salt, and let it soak in this as long 
as convenient — the longer the better ; then boil it first on the 
inside (as all fish should be boiled) ; then turn it over, basting 
it from time to time with the oil, etc. ; mix thoroughly a piece 
of butter, some chopped parsley, salt, and pepper together, 
and put it in a dish ; when the fish is done, put it on the mix- 
ture and serve hot. 

dantel Webster's chowder. 

4 table-spoonfuls of onions, fried with pork. 

1 quart of boiled potatoes, well mashed. 

1-J lbs. sea-biscuit, broken. 

1 tea-spoonful of thyme, mixed with one of summer savory. 

•J bottle mushroom catsup. 

1 bottle of port or claret. 

■§- nutmeg, grated. 

A few cloves, mace, and alspice. 

6 lbs. fish, sea bass or cod, cut in slices. 

25 oysters, a little black pepper, and a few slices of lemon. 
The whole put in a pot and covered with an inch of water, 
boiled for an hour and gently stirred. 

MAJOR HENSHAW'S CHOWDER. 

Cut up a pound and a half or two pounds of old salt pork 
into small pieces, and put it in a pot that has a close cover. 
Put in four table-spoonfuls of sliced onions when the pork is 
neai-ly tried out, and when the pork is entirely tried out re- 
move the pieces with a skimmer or large spoon. 

Then take six pounds of sea or striped bass, cod, or any 
other firm fish, and cut it in slices; a pound and a half of 
broken biscuit ; twenty-five large or fifty small oysters (these 
may be omitted if out of season) ; one quart of boiled pota- 
toes well mashed ; half a dozen large, or eight or ten small 



506 Appendix. 

tomatoes sliced (or half a bottle tomato catsup instead) ; one 
bottle port or claret, or other wine (the two former are best) ; 
half a nutmeg grated, a tea-spoonful each of fine summer sa- 
vory and thyme, and a few cloves, mace, allspice, black pep- 
per, and slices of lemon. Put the first five articles in the pot 
in layers, and alternately, in the order above stated ; sprinkle 
over each layer a portion of each of the other ingredients, 
then put in water enough to cover all. Cover close, and let 
it simmer, and stir occasionally till done. It should not boil, 
but simmer slowly, and the cover should be taken off as sel- 
dom as possible ; on this the flavor depends. When the fish 
on top is done, serve up the chowder. 

CLAM CHOWDER. 

Butter the bottom and sides of a deep tin or earthen dish ; 
strew the bottom thickly with bread crumbs or rolled crack- 
er (soaked) ; sprinkle over it pepper and pieces of butter the 
size of a hickory-nut, and parsley chopped fine ; then put in a 
double layer of clams. Sprinkle also over them pepper and 
pieces of butter, then another layer of soaked crumbs or crack- 
er, and again a double layer of clams, pepper, butter, and so 
on, the last layer being of crumbs ; add, finally, a cup of milk, 
or, in lieu of it, water. Put a plate over the top, with coals 
above and below, or bake in an oven three quarters of an 
hour. If too dry, before it is done add enough milk or water 
to moisten it. 

Fifty clams, half a pound of soda biscuit or bread crumbs, 
and a quarter of a pound of butter, is the quantity necessary 
for this receipt. 

FISH EN GRILLE OU EN PAPILLOTE. 

Scale and draw your fish, wipe it dry, but use no water. 
Cut off the head, tail, and fins. Take dry, mealy potatoes 
boiled and mashed, and mix plenty of butter with them; 
when thoroughly mixed into paste or dough, envelop each 
fish in a coating of them, and broil it on a gridiron till done, 



Appendix. 507 

or wrap it in oiled or greased white paper, and bake in hot 
ashes. Small fish are best by this process. 

FISH SAUCE. 

Take half a pound of anchovies, half a pint of port or other 
wine, a gill of strong vinegar, a small onion, a few cloves, a 
little allspice and whole pepper, a few blades of mace, half a 
handful of green or dried thyme, and a small lemon with the 
peel sliced. Put all in a saucepan, cover it close, and stew 
gently until the anchovies are dissolved ; then strain off, and 
bottle the liquor for use when wanted. 

WHITE SAUCE FOE FISH. 

Mix well together a lump of butter, a little warm water, 
and a table-spoonful of flour, and add, if you have it, a little 
fine-chopped parsley ; let it simmer slowly a few minutes, and 
pour over or serve with the fish. 

SAUCE A LA MAITEE d'hoTEL. 

Mix and knead well together in a bowl two ounces of but- 
ter, a table-spoonful of chopped parsley, and the juice of half 
a lemon ; add salt to your taste. Vinegar may be substituted 
for lemon, but it is not so good. Pepper, chopped chives, and 
some grated nutmeg may be added, if liked. 

STEWED FISH. 

Clean and wipe the fish ; heat from two to six ounces of 
butter in a pan (according to the size of the fish) ; heat hot ; 
then put in your fish, and let it remain over the fire five min- 
utes ; turn it over, and let it remain five minutes more, and 
be careful not to let it burn. Take the fish out, and put it in 
another stew-pan with a cover; dredge some flour into the 
juice and butter, let it remain over the fire three minutes, 
and pour it over the fish. Then take a quarter of a pound 
of butter, roll it well in flour, and put it in with the fish also ; 
add two blades of mace, ten cloves, a little cinnamon, red 



508 Appendix. 

pepper, and salt, with just enough water to keep it from 
burning; cover close, and let it stew slowly. When half 
done, add a pint of port or other wine ; when done, put the 
fish in a dish, pour the sauce over it, and garnish with lemon 
or horseradish. 

BECHAMEL SAUCE. 

Mix dry in a tin saucepan two ounces of butter and a table- 
spoonful of flour ; when well mixed, add a pint of milk, and 
dissolve the butter and flour paste in it ; set it on the fire, and 
stir constantly. When it gets rather thick, take it off and 
pour into it the yolk of an egg (previously well beaten in a 
cup), and add a tea-spoonful of water; salt and white pepper 
to taste. Mix it all well again, and it is ready for use. 

TO MAKE DELICIOUS BUTTER EASILY. 

Spread out three clean coarse towels one over the other, 
and lay a pint of thick cream on the top ; tie up all the tow- 
els as close as possible, and bury them eighteen inches deep in 
dry earth for twenty-four hours ; then take them up, put the 
cream in a cool earthen basin, and stir it for five minutes in 
summer or fifteen minutes in winter, and you will have a 
lump of as cool, fresh, delicious butter as you could desire. 

A EOYAL SALAD. 

Let your lettuce be perfectly dry. First boil an egg fully 
fifteen minutes ; then take the yolk, a tea-spoonful of salt, 
three tea - spoonfuls of pure, dry mustard, a little Cayenne 
pepper, half a dozen very young green onions chopped very 
fine : this must not be omitted ; if not to be got, a due pro- 
portion of the youngest onions must be used. Mix all the 
above, except the onions, well together ; then add and mix in 
well a table-spoonful of vinegar; then add two table-spoon- 
fuls of oil, and mix it in thoroughly ; then mix in thorough- 
ly half a tea-spoonful of first-rate brown sugar ; then cut up 
your lettuce of a size to taste, and the white of the egg small, 



Appendix. 509 

and mix them with the onions, turning them over carefully 
till well incorporated ; after which mix all the ingredients to- 
gether, taking care not to bruise the leaves of the lettuce, and 
serve immediately. 

When celery is used instead of lettuce, double or treble 
the quantity of mustard is necessary. It can not be excelled 
if the different mixtures are thoroughly done. 

AMELIA SALAD. 

Beat the yolk of a raw egg with two table-spoonfuls of oil ; 
mash two moderate-sized boiled potatoes thoroughly; add 
(according to taste) salt, mustard, and vinegar to the oil and 
egg (and add more oil if preferred) ; then incorporate the 
whole well together, after which cut your lettuce to taste, 
and mix it in carefully, so as not to bruise the leaves. 

In using celery, a larger quantity of all the ingredients is 
necessary. 

POTATO SALAD. 

Take cold boiled potatoes and slice them ; rub the dish in- 
tended for them with garlic ; make a dressing of oil, vinegar, 
pepper, salt, and parsley, if you have it, or lettuce, cut very 
fine, and mix all together. To the above may be added any 
odds and ends of meat, fowl, or fish you have, cut into pieces 
of the size of dice. Ham, cold veal, anchovies freshened, or 
herrings are excellent with it ; also any cold fish that is 
coarse-grained and firm, such as porgee, sea bass, salmon, and 
salmon-trout. 

FRENCH PILAU. 

Boil your fowls or other birds in enough water to cover 
them, and when done, take them out. Take out also a por- 
tion of the liquor; then put into the rest of the liquor enough 
rice (previously well washed) to cover the birds. When it is 
done, take it out and butter it well ; put half of it in a dish ; 
lay the birds on it ; add the liquor ; then cover the birds with 



510 Appendix. 

the rest of the rice ; make it smooth, and spread over it the 
yolk of two well-beaten eggs. Cover the dish with a tin 
plate, and coals above and under, or bake in an oven, with a 
moderate fire. 

QUAIL, BAIL, PLOVEK, AND OTHER SMALL BIRDS, 

are prepared and cooked as directed for snipe and wood- 
cock, except that you cut off the head, and remove the crop 
and trail before cooking. Some remove only the crop from 
the very small birds. 

CRANES AND HERONS, 

when young, are often stewed and broiled like chickens, and 
are considered very good, but I prefer to make a soup of 
them, with gumbo. 

Pick and dress them like any fowl; cut them up with a 
piece of fresh beef, or a gill of the essence of beef to two or 
three birds, and put all in a pot, with a table-spoonfnl of lard 
or pork, an onion, sliced or not, as preferred, and water enough 
to cook the meat. After they have become soft, if you have 
them, add 100 or less oysters, with their liquor, or soft or hard 
crabs previously cleaned and cut in quarters. Let it simmer 
a couple of minutes or so, if oysters are used with ci'abs, till 
they are done. Just before serving, stir in, till the soup be- 
comes mucilaginous, one or two table-spoonfuls of gumbo. 
Okra is commonly called gumbo ; their properties are simi- 
lar, but one is a vegetable pod, the other a leaf. The only 
place it can probably be found at in this city is Coolidge & 
Adams's, John Street. It is cheap. 

POTTED PIGEONS, CURLEW, OR OTHER DRY BIRDS. 

Thoroughly pick and clean them ; make a stuffing of one 
egg, one cracker, and an equal quantity of suet or butter, 
and sweet marjoram or sage ; make small balls of the stuffing, 
and put one of them, with a small slice of salt pork, into each 
bird ; dredge the birds well with flour, and lay them close to- 



Appendix. 511 

gether in the bottom of a pot ; cover them with water ; throw 
in a piece of butter; cover the pot, and let them stew slowly 
for an hour and a quarter; if they are old birds, an hour and 
three quarters. 

ENGLISH OR JACK SNIPE, AND WOODCOCK. 

These birds live by suction, and have no crop, the stomach 
being somewhat pear-shaped, and about the size of a bullet. 
They should be cooked without being drawn, either by broil- 
ing, or skewered, with the ends resting on crotched sticks or 
on the sides of a small tin pan. A small, thin slice of pork, 
covering the breast, should be tied round the bird, with a 
slice or two of toast laid under it to receive the drippings. 
Cook fifteen or twenty minutes, according to size, before or 
over a lively fire. Those who do not like the trail should 
nevertheless cook the bird whole, and remove the trail after 
it is served up, otherwise the flavor of the bird is nearly 
lost. The trail, head, and neck are worth all the rest to ep- 
icures. 

TO SELECT MUSHROOMS. 

They grow in open pasture ; those near or under trees are 
poisonous ; they first appear very small, round in shape, and 
on a small stalk ; the upper part and stalk are white ; as they 
increase in size, the under part gradually expands, and shows 
a fringe fir of a fine salmon color, and so continues until the 
increase in size is considerable, when it changes to a dark 
brown. The poisonous kind have a yellowish skin, and the 
under pai't is not a clear salmon color, while the fringe or fir 
is white or yellow. The good smells pleasantly, the other 
rank. 



512 Appendix. 



GENERAL RULES FOR COOKING. 
SOUPS. 

Let them simmer rather than boil. Put cold water in the 
pot, and let it heat gradually ; only uncover the pot to skim 
the soup. A tea-spoonful of salt and a quart of water to each 
pound of beef is a fair average. Remove every particle of 
scum before you put in the vegetables. If soup is too thick, 
always thin it with boiling water. Never put in green vege- 
tables till the water boils. Hard or fast boiling makes meat 
tough and hard. Put your herbs in when nearly done. All 
soups require simmering from four to five hours. 

BOILING VEGETABLES. 

Cabbage should boil an hour ; beets, an hour and a half; 
parsnips, an hour or an hour and a quarter, according to size ; 
squashes, the larger end should boil half an hour, the neck 
pieces fifteen or twenty minutes longer ; new potatoes, fifteen 
or twenty minutes ; old ones, from half an hour to an hour, 
according to size : never let them stop boiling (if you wish 
them mealy) till they are done ; then turn off the water and 
let them dry. 

BOILING MEATS. 

Hard or fast boiling makes all meat dry, tough, and hard. 
Corned beef should, after being cooked, be left in the liquid 
till it is perfectly cold, or it will be dry. Fifteen minutes to 
each pound of ham is a fair average. Hams and meat should 
be put in hot, but not boiling water ; cold water draws out 
the juices. Beef tongues of a fair size require full three hours' 
boiling. 

BOILING PISH. 

Ten minutes to every pound of fish is a fair average ; if 
large and thick, a few minutes longer ; cover close ; simmer 



Appendix. 513 

rather than boil ; take out immediately when done. A fresh 
cod of four or five pounds takes about twenty minutes to 
boil. Never put the fish in till the water is boiling hot. Salt 
fish should never boil for a moment, as it makes it hard; it 
should lie in scalding water two or three hours, and then be 
allowed to simmer, and the less water you use and the lon- 
ger it simmers the better it will be. The fish is done when 
the meat is easily detached from the bones. 

FRYING PISH. 

Never put your fish in the pan till the fat is boiling hot. 
Always cut your pork small, and don't try it out or otherwise 
cook it too fast, as it will lose much of its sweetness. Score 
the fish and roll them in flour before laying them in the 
sparkling fat. In using lard, a table-spoonful of salt to a 
pound is a fair average. 

BROILING PISH. 

Wipe your fish, and use as little water in cleaning it as pos- 
sible. Put the inside of the fish to the fire first. Mix thor- 
oughly in a dish a tea-spoonful of salt and pepper with about 
four ounces of butter, and melt it. When your fish is done, 
turn each piece over and over in the butter ; cover the dish,, 
and keep it hot till ready to serve. 

BROILING STEAKS. 

Put the steak on the gridiron for a few moments, and 
scorch both sides ; then take it off, and when perfectly cold 
proceed to broil it to your taste ; this mode preserves the 
juices of the meat. 

No sportsman's larder can be complete now without a few 
cans of the essence of beef, for making gravies and enriching 
a soup, together with a few herbs and spices for flavoring. 

Kk 



514 Appendix. 

COMPOUNDING FANCY DKINKS. 
EGG NOGG. 

Take six eggs, a quart of milk, half a pint of brandy (or a 
gill each of brandy and rum), or usej any other liquor, and six 
table-spoonfuls of sugar. Beat the yolks of the eggs and the 
sugar well together, and the whites very hard. Mix in the 
brandy with the yolks, then boil the. milk, and add it to the 
mixture. When well stirred up, crown the whole with the 
whites of the eggs. 

SHEEEY-COBBLEE. 

Put in a tumbler a table-spoonful and a half of powdered 
sugar and a slice or two of lemon ; then fill it half full of 
crushed ice ; then pour on it a wine-glassful or more of sher- 
ry. Pour the whole from tumbler to tumbler till well mixed, 
and drink through a straw, if you have it. 

MULLED CIDEE. 

Take a pint of sweet cider ; reserve a tea-cupful of it, and 
add to the remainder an equal quantity of water. Set it to 
boil, with a tea-spoonful of whole allspice added to it ; then 
beat three eggs very light, and stir gradually the reserved 
cup of cider into them ; then stir this mixture gradually into 
the boiling cider and water, and continue stirring till the 
whole is smooth; sweeten to taste; grate a little nutmeg 
over it, and serve hot in tumblers. 

MULLED WINE 

is made in the same way as mulled cider. 

AEEACK PUNCH. 

Mix four tumblers of Jamaica rum (Antigua is best), three 
quarters of a tumbler of arrack, half a tumbler of lemon-juice, 
and the rind of a lemon and a half; add sugar and water equal 



Appendix. 515 

to twice the quantity of liquor. Before adding the sugar and 
water, let the mixture stand some ten minutes or so. 

CLARET PUNCH. 

Take one Lottie of claret or Burgundy, one bottle of plain 
soda (some prefer two), one lemon, one glass of sherry, and 
sugar to taste. Mix all well and ice it thoroughly, and at 
the moment of serving add another bottle of soda. This 
punch is excellent in hot weather. 

COMMON PUNCH. 

Mix well together one tumbler of crushed sugar, half a 
tumbler of any liquor, six tumblers of water, the rind of two 
lemons and the juice of one, or half a tumbler of lemon sirup, 
and ice if to be had. 

AGRAZ. 

Pound some unripe white grapes, and add some white sug- 
ar and water. Strain till it acquires a very pale amber or 
straw color ; then, if possible, freeze it in ice, and use. This 
is a Spanish receipt, and is considered by many of that na- 
tion the most delicious and refeshing hot-weather drink ever 
devised. 

REGAL PUNCH. 

Peel twenty-four lemons ; steep the rinds for twelve hours 
in two quarts of Jamaica rum ; squeeze the lemons on three 
pounds and a half of loaf sugar; add two quarts of dark 
brandy and six quarts of water. Mix all together ; add two 
quai'ts of boiled milk ; stir until the mixture curdles ; strain 
it through a jelly-bag until clear; bottle and cork. 

FLIP. 

Put the quantity of ale, porter, or beer you wish in a tin 
cup, and add sugar to taste ; heat the end of a thick piece of 
iron red hot, plunge it in the liquor, and stir round till the 



516 Appendix. 

liquor ceases to bubble, and drink hot. This is the most re- 
freshing and strengthening drink either before or after a 
hard day's hunt that I know of. A piece of iron of the shape 
and size of a large soldering-iron is the best. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 

Although sportsmen and mariners do not seek either the 
wilds or the waves for the luxuries of the table, yet they set 
a higher estimate on heaven's bounties than to suppose meat 
and drink given to sustain life only. They consider them 
rather as bestowals for strength and enjoyment to man, and 
as such they are to be used intellectually and in moderation. 

In the foregoing list of edibles, there is not a rare article 
named, or one which is cumbrous to convey on fishing excur- 
sions. Meats, sauces, and vegetables of nearly all kinds are 
now canned or desiccated, and put up in convenient packages 
to carry, so that for a camp life of only a fortnight on the ar- 
omatic boughs of fir or hemlock it will pay to provide them. 

Persons who have never enjoyed camp life out of the reach 
of primary elections are not expected to realize the great lux- 
ury of satisfying the cravings of real hunger caused by sport- 
ive -exercise in the forest, and especially are those creature 
comforts -double blessings when storm-bound and confined 
to the camp. 

Thus much I have considered necessary to state as an ex- 
cuse for adding the culinary and bibulous part as an appen- 
dix, for there are not wanting those who consider eating and 
drinking undignified duties. 

Bermuda onions, potatoes, and salted side-pork are neces- 
saries in the wilderness ; these, with eggs and flour, are about 
the only articles to be sent in bulk. Trout are cooked only 
four ways in the wilderness : the large ones are boiled, or 
rolled in a sheet of paper which has been well buttered, then 
protected farther by four or five thicknesses of brown paper, 
when it is placed on hot ashes, and covered with hot ashes 



Appendix. 



517 



topped off with live coals, and thus left twenty minutes for 
every pound weight. When taken from the fire the wrap- 
pers are removed, including the skin, which will adhere to 
the paper, and it is placed on a hot plate and seasoned to the 
taste. The third way is to draw the trout, clip off the fins, 
score it across on each side, roll it in flour, and place it in 
a pan of sparkling hot butter, or fat tried from salt pork ; 
dredge with flour, and turn it several times for a thick crust. 
The fourth way is to spit it, with a thin slice of salt pork 
along one side, on a birch fork, turning it by hand over a 
camp-fire until done. Lemon-juice is a refreshing luxury on 
salmon or trout. In using sea-biscuits, soak them previously 
in cold water; they are then good when fried in the gravy 
left from frying ham and eggs. 

To those who can explain the recondite harmonies which 
subsist between the velvet calipash and the verdant calipee, 
nothing farther need be added ; and for those who do not 
comprehend them, words would prove superfluous. 



NOTEWOKTHY ITEMS. 

Drying Lines.— Fishing clubs provide posts and hooks at 
headquarters for drying lines, but 
in wet or foggy weather they are 
useless. Experienced anglers there- 
fore generally carry a small reel 
with them, for linen bass-lines, when 
in use, should be dried every even- 
ing. 

This reel, which is formed of 24 
narrow slats, tied at the ends in 
threes, and moving by a double 
button or screw in the centre, 
closes like an umbrella, being light, 
and occupying very little room in 
a trunk. For using it, fasten the 




Keel for Drying Lines. 



518 Appendix. 

foot by a screw to a board or table-leaf; open it by sliding 
up on the staff the lower base to which the slats are fastened, 
and fasten it, by the screw represented, to the centre-shaft or 
staff. Hold the line with one hand and turn the reel with 
the other.. The reel may be bought at most of the fishing- 
tackle stores, such as Clerk's, Conroy's, Bates's, Pritchard's, in 
New York, or at Bradford's, in Boston. 

Copal Varnish. — This is the best varnish for tackle, hook- 
dressings, etc. 

White Wax. — This is made like cobbler's wax, and 
stretched until it becomes nearly white, dry, and brittle ; or 
mix beeswax, resin, and tallow ; pour into water, and stretch 
and work it with the hands. 

Spermaceti. — Good to dress lines. To take the kink out 
of linen lines, darken their color, and not weaken them by 
preparation, dip them into tanner's or lamp oil, and, when 
saturated, hang them up until they dry, when pack them in 
mahogany dust, and leave them several days, or until the 
dust has absorbed the oil. 

India-rubber Dressing. — This is recommended both for 
dressing lines and for patching India-rubber boots. For 
lines, cut into small pieces some white rubber and dissolve it 
in turpentine — about -£;% rubber and -$fo turpentine. Set 
the vessel containing them in hot water, as you would glue ; 
or rubber may be dissolved in chloroform. Rubber dressing 
for lines is not liable to crack, and is therefore preferred to 
varnish ; but spermaceti is preferred by our best fishing-tackle 
manufacturers. Boiled linseed oil with a lump of resin, or a 
little gold size, is preferred by some. 

To dress Leather Wading-boots. — Cut into shavings 
some black India-rubber (the vulcanized is not good for these 
preparations), and place them in a vessel containing double 
the amount of spirits of turpentine ; place the vessel in hot 
water until the rubber dissolves, when mix, and let it cool so 
as not to burn the leather, and rub the uppers and creases 
above the sole, and they will be water-proof. 



Appendix. 519 

Some sportsmen cut black rubber into shreds and mix it 
with hot tallow until dissolved, when the mixture is supposed 
to keep the boots both dry and soft. 

To dress wading-boots in summer, rub them over every 
morning while they are in use with a piece of bullock's scro- 
tum. It will prevent them from leaking, and render them as 
soft as chamois-skin. 

To keep Moth prom Feathers. — Place them in a close 
case with the gum of camphor, or, what is better, with vanilla 
beans ; what is still better is scrapings of Russia leather. 
Boxes made of cedar or sandal- wood are the best. Tobacco, 
and both black and red peppers, are good to sprinkle the 
feathers with, or to place in large amounts in the boxes of 
feathers. 

To preserve Silk-w t orm Gut. — Keep it neither wet nor 
dry. A dry cellar forms the best store-room for it. Keep it 
packed and out of the air. 

Oil for Hooks and Reels. — That from the head or jaw 
of the porpoise is the best. 

Clearing Ring should be about two inches in diameter, 
and half a pound weight for coast-fishing ; one fourth pound 
for fresh-water fishing. The line attached to it should be 
wound on a spool or reel, as shown on the cut in the title- 
page, or that in salmon -fishing. In case the hook gets fast, 
let the ring run down to dislodge it ; or if a salmon or striped 
bass sulks, let the ring glide down on the line to his nose, and 
he will generally change quarters. 

To Stain Gimp. — Mr. Francis quotes " Book of the Pike" 
in stating : " Bright brass gimp is easily seen by the fish. To 
discolor it, soak it in a solution of bichlorate of platinum 
mixed with w T ater — one of platinum to eight or ten parts of 
water; then dry before the fire." 

Marine Glue is recommended for covering splices and 
securing ties. 

Silk, Tinsel, etc. — To preserve them, keep them dry, and 
away from the fire and air. 



>20 



Appendix. 



Preserving Water-proofs. — Do not hang them on a nail 
or peg ; either hang them over a chair-back, or spread them 
out on the tent floor. Do not dry either boots or coats near 
a fireplace or a stove. At our principal club-houses there is 
a drying-room ; but on fishing excursions it were better not 
to dry boots and coats than to injure them. 



FEET DRESS FOR FIELD-SPORTS. 




Figures 1, 2, 3, represent the sole, front, and side views. A and B show the laced lap- 
ping at the ankle, C the wide tongue, and D the sole. 

I copy these designs from a communication to the Field by 
" The Forester," who is one of the leading sportsmen in En- 
gland and Scotland. By the wear of these boots it is intend- 
ed that the ankle shall not be easily sprained, and that the 
alternate lacings on each side of the instep keep the shoe 
more natural and firm than if laced on one side only; and, be- 
sides, the lacing is less liable to gape. 

In the first place, the last on which the boots are made 
should be a shaving all round wider than the naked foot, and 
then the sole should be a trifle larger than the bottom of the 
last. The heel should be low, and extend forward in line 
with the front of the ankle-bone. The straps should be made 
of soft leather, and, being broad and flat, they gather the heel 
portion of the boot well up, and suppoi't the ankle and instep. 
The boots should be large, to admit a heavy ribbed stocking 
of wool, rather loose, for a weft too close causes the feet to 
be too warm. This writer objects to water-tight boots, and 
at night, after a day's sport, he drains his boots, wipes them 
out, greases them to keep them soft, sets them in a dry place 



Appendix. 521 

very remote from the fire, and the next morning he dons 
them over a pair of heavy, ribbed, dry stockings, and is again 
ready for the fray. Use small tacks, placed in threes on the 
soles, and as they lose, replace at evening. 

" The Forester" is doubtless right for a shooting-boot, or 
for a boot to fish along the stream for trout, or from the rocks 
for striped bass ; but for wading, in summer weather, the 
pegged shoe of the American army regulation is the best cov- 
ering for the feet. 

Stiff leathern leggins, like those worn by the Zouaves, are 
useful to protect the shins when threading rough under- 
growth of thorns and briers along a trout stream. For wad- 
ing-boots I have found alligator-skin the best uppers for the 
feet, and Russia leather the best for the legs. 

Getch ell's rubber boots, lined with cloth, and with silk ex- 
tensions above the knees, are the most perfect articles of the 
rubber kind. 



AMEEICAN GAME-LAWS. 



AMERICAN LAWS POR THE PROTECTION OP FISH, GAME, AND 
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 

The leading features of these laws are included in those 
for the State of New York and the Dominion of Canada, and 
I therefore give them for the benefit of the remaining part 
of North America, as the laws for regulating the protection 
and capture of game and fresh-water fishes should be similar 
throughout the United States and their borders. 

GAME-LAWS OP THE STATE OP NEW YORK. 

An Act to amend and consolidate the several acts relating to the Preservation 
of Moose, Wild Deer, Birds, and Fresh-water Fish, passed May 13, 1867. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

MOOSE AND DEER. 

Sec. 1. No person shall kill, or pursue with intent to kill, any moose or 
wild deer save only during the months of August, September, October, No- 



522 Appendix. 

vember, and up to and inclusive of the 1 Oth day of December, or shall expose 
for sale, or have in his or her possession, any green moose or deer skin, or 
fresh venison, save only in the months aforesaid, and up to and inclusive of 
the 10th of December. 

WILD FAWN AND GRAY RABBITS. 

Sec. 2. No person shall at any time kill any wild fawn during the periods 
when such fawn is in its spotted coat, or expose for sale, or have at any time 
in his or her possession, any spotted wild fawn skin, or any gray rabbit, from 
the 1st of February to the 1st of November. 

WILD PIGEONS. 

Sec. 3. No person shall kill, or catch, or discharge any fire-arm at any wild 
pigeon while in any nesting-ground, or break up or in any manner disturb 
such nesting-ground, or the nests or birds therein, or discharge any fire-arm 
at any distance within a quarter of a mile of such nesting-place at such pigeon. 

WILD-FOWL. 

Sec. 4. No person shall kill, or expose for sale, or have in his possession 
after the same is killed, any wood duck (commonly called black duck), gray 
duck (commonly called summer duck), mallard, or teal duck, between the 1st 
day of February and the 1 5th day of August in each year. No person shall 
at any time kill any wild duck, goose, or other wild-fowl, with or by means of 
the device or instrument known as swivel or punt gun, or with or by means 
of any gun other than such guns as are habitually raised at arm's length and 
fired from the shoulder, or shall use any such device, or instrument, or gun 
other than such gun as aforesaid, with intent to kill any such duck, goose, or 
other wild-fowl. No person shall in any manner kill, or molest with intent 
to kill, any Avild ducks, geese, or other wild-fowl, while the, same are sitting 
at night npon their resting-places. But this section shall not apply to waters 
of Long Island Sound or the Atlantic Ocean. 

PENALTY FOR VIOLATION. 

Sec. 5. Any person violating the foregoing provisions of this act shall be 
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall likewise be liable to a penalty of 
fifty dollars for each offense. 

INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 

Sec. 6. No person shall at any time, within this state, kill, or trap, or ex- 
pose for sale, or have in his possession after the same is killed, any eagle, fish- 
hawk, night - hawk, whippoorwill, finch, thrush, lark, sparrow, yellow- bird, 
brown thresher, wren, martin, swallow, tonager, oriole, woodpecker, bobolink, 
or any other harmless bird, or any song-bird ; or kill, trap, or expose for sale 
any robin, blackbird, meadow-lark, or starling, save during the months of Au- 
gust, September, October, November, and December ; nor destroy or rob the 
nests of any wild birds whatever, under a penalty of five dollars for each bird 
so killed, trapped, or exposed for sale, and for each nest destroyed or robbed. 



Appendix. 523 

This section shall not apply to any person who shall kill or trap any bird for 
the purpose of studying its habits or history, or having the same stuffed and 
set up as a specimen ; nor to any person who shall kill on his own premises 
any robin during the period when summer fruits or grapes are ripening, pro- 
vided such robin is killed in the act of destroying such fruits or grapes. 

PINNATED GROUSE. 

Sec. 7. No person shall, at any time within ten years from the passage of 
this act, kill any pinnated grouse, commonly called the prairie-fowl, unless 
upon grounds owned by them, and grouse placed thereon by said owners, un- 
der a penalty of ten dollars for each bird so killed. 

AVOODCOCK, RUFFED GROUSE, QUAIL, RAIL, AND PARTRIDGE. 

Sec. 8. No person shall kill, or have in his or her possession, except alive, 
for the purpose of preserving the same alive through the winter, or expose for 
sale any woodcock or ruffed grouse, commonly called partridge, between the 
1st day of January and the 1st day of September, or kill any quail, sometimes 
called Virginia partridge, between the 1 st day of January and the 20th day 
of October, or have the same in possession, or expose the same for sale be- 
tween the 1st day of February and the 20th day of October, or have in his 
possession any pinnated grouse, commonly called prairie-chicken, or expose 
the same for sale between the 1st day of February and the 1st da}' of July, 
under a penalty of five dollars for each bird so killed, or had in possession, or 
exposed for sale. Provided, however, that in the counties lying along the 
Hudson River, and Susquehanna River and its branches, and in the counties 
lying south of the north line of the county of Greene, and the county of Co- 
lumbia, and in the counties bordering upon the waters where the tide ebbs 
and flows, it shall be lawful to kill, or possess, or expose for sale any wood- 
cock, or rail, or ruffed grouse, commonly called partridge, between the 3d day 
of July and the 1st day of January. 

TRAPPING PROHIBITED. 

Sec. 9. No person shall, at any time, or in any place within this state, with 
any trap or snare, take any quail or ruffed grouse, under a penalty of five dol- 
lars for each quail or grouse so trapped or snared. 

VIOLATING THE SABBATH. 

Sec. 10. There shall be no shooting, hunting, or trapping on the first day 
of the week, called Sunday, and any person offending against the provisions 
of this section shall, on conviction, forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding twen- 
ty-five dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail of the county where the 
offense was committed not less than ten days nor more than twenty-five days 
for each offense. 

TRESPASS. 

Sec. 1 1 . Any person who shall at any time enter upon the lawn, garden, 
orchard, or pleasure-grounds immediately surrounding a dwelling-house, with 



524 Appendix. 

any fire-arm, for the purpose of shooting, contrary to the provisions of this 
act, or shall shoot at any bird or animal thereon, shall be deemed guilty of 
trespass, and, in addition to the damages, shall be liable to a penalty of ten 
dollars. 

POISONING FRESH-WATER STREAMS. 

Sec. 12. No person shall place in any fresh- water stream, lake, or pond, 
without the consent of the owner, any lime or other deleterious substance, 
with intent to injure fish ; nor any drug or medicated bait, with intent there- 
by to poison or catch fish ; nor place in any pond or lake stocked with or in- 
habited by trout, black bass, pike, pickerel, or sunfish, any drug or other dele- 
terious substance, with intent to destroy such trout or other fish. Any per- 
son violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 
meanor, and shall, in addition thereto, and in addition to any damage he may 
have done, be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars. 

BUILDING AND MAINTAINING DAMS. 

Sec. 1 3. Every person building or maintaining a dam upon the rivers emp- 
tying into Lake Ontario, the River St. Lawrence, or Lake Champlain, which 
dam is higher than two feet, shall likewise build and maintain, during the 
months of March, April, May, September, October, and November, for the 
purpose of the passage of fish, a sluice-way in the mid-channel at least one 
foot in depth at the edge of the dam, and of proper width, and placed at an 
angle of not more than thirty degrees, and extending - entirely to the running 
water below the dam, which sluice-way shall be protected on each side by an 
apron at least one foot in height, to confine the water therein. 

speckled brook trout. 
Sec. 14. No person shall at any time, with intent so to do, catch any speck- 
led brook trout or speckled river trout with any device save only with a hook 
and line ; and no person shall catch any such trout, or have any such trout in 
his or her possession, save only during the months of April, May, June, July, 
August, and September, under a penalty of five dollars for each trout so caught 
or had in his possession ; but this section shall not prevent any person or cor- 
poration from catching trout in waters owned by them to stock other waters 
belonging to them. But the counties of Kings, Queens, and Suffolk shall be 
exempted from the provisions of the above section so far as to allow the tak- 
ing or catching of trout in the -counties last named during the month of March. 

salmon-trout. 
Sec. 15. No person shall take or have in possession any salmon-trout be- 
tween the 15th day of October and the 1st day of February in each year, un- 
der a penalty of five dollars for each fish so taken and had in possession. But 
this section shall not apply to the waters of Otsego Lake. 

black bass or maskalonge. 
Sec. 16. No person shall take or have in possession any black bass or mas- 



Appendix. 525 

kalonge' between the 1st day of January and the 1st day of May, under a pen- 
alty of five dollars for each fish so taken or had in possession. 

NETS, TRAPS, ETC. 

Sec. 17. No person shall at any time take any fish with a net, spear, or trap 
of any kind, or set any trap, net, weir, or pot, with intent to catch fish, in any 
of the fresh waters of this state, nor in any of its tidal waters inhabited by brook 
trout, except as hereinafter provided ; and any person violating the provisions 
of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall likewise be 
liable to a penalty of twenty-five dollars for each offense : but suckers, catfish, 
eels, whitefish, shad, and minnows are exempted from the operation of this 
section ; Provided, however, That nothing in this section shall be so construed 
as to legalize the use of gill-nets in any of the fresh waters of this state. But 
in the waters of Otsego Lake, seines may be used from the first day of March 
to the last day of August, and gill- nets may be used during the months of 
July and August ; but no such seine or net shall have meshes less than one 
inch and three-quarters in size. 

VIOLATION. 

Sec. 18. No person shall sell, expose for sale or purchase, or have in his or 
her possession, any fish taken contrary to the provisions of this act, under a 
penalty of five dollars for each fish so sold, exposed for sale, purchased, or had 
in possession, with intent to violate the provisions of this act. 

TRESPASSING. 

Sec. 19. Any person trespassing on any lands for the purpose of taking 
fish from any private pond, stream, or spring, after public notice on the part 
of the owner or occupant thereof, or of said lands, not to so trespass, shall be 
deemed guilty of trespass, and in addition to any damages recoverable by 
law, shall be liable to the owner, lessee, or occupant in a penalty of twenty- 
five dollars for each offense. 

HOW PENALTIES ARE RECOVERED. 

Sec. 20. All penalties imposed under the provisions of this act may be re- 
covered, with cost of suit, by any person or persons in his or their own names, 
before any justice of the peace in the county where the offense was commit- 
ted or where the defendant resides ; or when such suit shall be brought in the 
City of New York, before any justice of any of the District Courts or of the 
Marine Court of said city ; or such penalties may be recovered in an action 
in the Supreme Court of this state, by any person or persons, in his or their 
own names ; which action shall be governed by the same rules as other ac- 
tions in said Supreme Court, except that in a recovery by the plaintiff or plain- 
tiffs in such suit in said court, costs shall be allowed to such plaintiff or plain- 
tiffs, without regard to the amount of such recovery; and any District Court 
judge, justice of the peace, police, or other magistrate, is authorized, upon 
receiving sufficient security for costs on the part of the complainant, and suffi- 
cient proof by affidavit of the violation of the provisions of this act, by any 
person being temporarily within his jurisdiction, but not residing therein, or 



526 Appendix. 

by any person whose name and residence are unknown, to issue his warrant, 
and have such offender committed or held to bail to answer the charge against 
' him ; and any District Court judge, justice of the peace, police, or other mag- 
istrate, may, upon proof of probable cause to believe in the concealment of 
any game or fish mentioned in this act, during atiy of the prohibited periods, 
issue his search warrant and cause search to be made in any house, market- 
boat, car, or other building, and for that end may cause any apartment, chest, 
box, locker, or crate to be broken open and the contents examined. Any 
penalties, when collected, shall be paid by the court before which conviction 
shall be had, one half to the overseers of the poor, for the use of the poor of 
the town in which conviction is had, and the remainder to the prosecutor. 
On the non-payment of the penalty, the defendant shall be committed to the 
common jail of the county for a period of not less than five days, and at the 
rate of one day for each dollar of the amount of the judgment, where the sum 
is over five dollars in amount. Any court of special sessions in this state 
shall have jurisdiction to try and dispose of all and any of the offenses arising 
in the same county against the provisions ot this act ; and every justice of the 
peace shall have jurisdiction within his county of actions to recover any pen- 
alty hereby given or created. 

POSSESSION OF GAME PRIOR TO PROHIBITED PERIOD. 

Sec. 21. Any person proving that the birds, fish, skins, or animals found 
in his or her possession during the prohibited periods were killed prior to 
such periods, or were killed in any place outside of the limits of this state, 
and that the law of such place did not prohibit such killing, shall he exempt- 
ed from the penalties of this act. 

COMMON CARRIERS AND EXPRESS COMPANIES. 

Sec 22. In all prosecutions under this act, it shall be competent for com- 
mon carriers or express companies to show that the inhibited article in his or 
their possession came into such possession in another state, in which state the 
law did not prohibit such possession, and such showing shall be deemed a de- 
fense in such prosecution. No action for a penalty under the provisions of 
this act shall be settled or compromised, except upon the payment into court 
of the full amount of such penalty, unless upon such terms and conditions as 
may be imposed by the district attorney of the county in which such action 
shall have been brought. 

LAKE ONTARIO. 

Sec. 23. Nothing in this act contained shall apply to fish caught or to the 
taking of fish in the waters of Lake Ontario, or any of its bays or estuaries 
within the counties of Oswego, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence, nor to the catch- 
ing of fish in any way in the St. Lawrence River. 

ONEIDA LAKE. 

Sec. 24. The provisions of this act shall not be deemed to apply to or af- 
fect the taking of fish in Oneida Lake, at a distance of one mile beyond the 
shores thereof. 



Appendix. 527 



KENNYETTO CREEK AND SACANDAGA VLAIE. 

Sec. 25. It shall be unlawful to use or draw, for the taking offish of any kind 
whatever, any seine or net in Kennyetto or Fondasbush Creek, in the county 
of Fulton, or in the Sacandaga Vlaie, or in any part thereof in said county, 
above the covered bridge, near the village of Fish House, commonly known as 
the "Vlaie Creek Bridge," or in any of the streams emptying into the said 
Vlaie. 

VIOLATING THE PROVISIONS OP THE PRECEDING SECTION. 

Sec. 26. Any person violating the provisions of the preceding section shall, 
upon conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and also liable 
to a penalty of twenty-five dollars, which may be recovered in the manner 
prescribed in section twenty of said chapter eight hundred and ninety-eight, 
hereby amended. 

REPEAL OP PREVIOUS ACTS. 

Sec. 27. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this 
act are hereby repealed, except chapter one hundred and seventy-three of 
laws of eighteen hundred and sixty-one, which is hereby continued in full 
force and effect. 

Sec. 28. This act shall take effect immediately. 

Passed May 9, 1868. 

State of Neiu York, "» 

Office of the Secretary of State, ) s " "" 

I have compared the preceding Avith the original law on file in this office, 
and do hereby certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom and of 
the whole of said original law. Homer. A. Nelson, Secretary of State. 

The following is the act of 1861, referred to in section 27 : 

An act for the Preservation of Fish in Canandalgua Lake and the outlet there- 
of lying in the Counties of Ontario and Yates. 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as folloivs: 

Sec. 1. It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to take, catch, or 
procure, in or from Canandaigua Lake, or the inlet thereof, lying within the 
Counties of Ontario and Yates, any fish, with or by means of any seine, gill- 
net, or other net. 

Sec. 2. No person shall knowingly sell, or offer for sale, any fish caught in 
or from said lake, or inlet thereof, contrary to the provisions of the first sec- 
tion of this act, and it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to purchase 
any fish so taken in or from said lake or inlet. 

Sec. 3. Whoever shall violate any or either of the provisions of this act 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall also be subject to a pen- 
alty for each offense of not less than ten nor more than twenty-five dollars, 
to be recovered in a civil action, with costs, as hereinafter provided. 



528 Appendix. 

% 

Sec. 4. Any person maj r bring or prosecute an action in his own name for 
the recovery of the fines or penalties imposed by this act, before any justice 
of the peace of either of said counties, upon first giving to such justice of the 
peace security for costs, satisfactory to such justice, in case he shall fail to 
recover ; and in case of a recovery, the amount thereof, when collected, shall 
be paid to the court before which such an action shall be prosecuted, together 
with costs of such suit. The court before which such action shall be brought 
shall certify the reasonable costs and expenses thereof, and pay the same out 
of the moneys so received, and shall pay the residue thereof, if any, to the 
treasurer of the county in which such action is brought, for the support of the 
poor of said county. 

Sec. 5. All laws inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 6. This act shall take effect immediately. 

Passed April 12, 1861. 

THE GAME AND FISHERY LAWS OP THE DOMINION OF CANADA 
FOE EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-NINE. 

(By Edwakd C. Baebee, Esq., Ottawa, Author of " The Crack Shot," etc., etc.) 

ONTARIO AND QUEBEC. 

Since the last issue of the Year-Booh, very considerable changes have been 
made in the game-laws of the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The fish- 
ery-laws of the Dominion have also been revised to some extent, and it is now 
believed that if sportsmen will respect the provisions of the acts, and aid in 
enforcing the penalty against the poacher for infractions thereof, game and 
fish will again become plentiful. 

It is greatly to be regretted that the Legislatures of the different provinces 
have not provided the means for carrying out their various enactments on the 
subject of the protection of game, and herein is felt the inconvenience of these 
matters being dealt with in detail by the various provinces instead of by the 
Dominion. Had the Dominion Legislature been vested with the power of 
legislating upon the subject of game as well as upon the fisheries, the fishery 
overseers might have been made efficient aids to the different game-clubs 
throughout the country. To those of Quebec and Montreal much praise is 
due for their efforts to protect game ; but it is absurd to suppose that indi- 
vidual effort can stay the devastating hand of the pot-hunter. Much good 
would be accomplished if the municipalities could be induced to afford their 
aid. 

In Ontario, the close season for deer or fawn, elk, moose or cariboo, extends 
from the 1 st of December to the succeeding 1 st of September, not to be trap- 
ped ; the close season for wild turkey, grouse, pheasant, and partridge is be- 
tween the 1st of January and the 1 st of September ; for quail between the ] st 
of January and the 1st of October ; and for woodcock and snipe from the 1 st 
of March to the 12th of August ; and no wild swan, goose, or any description 
of duck is allowed to be killed between the loth day of April and the 10th 
day of August ; neither is it to be trapped, or taken by means of traps, snares, 
or springs, or killed by any other method than by shooting. It is also un- 



Appendix. 529 

lawful to use sunken punts or batteries, or night lights. No eggs of any kind 
of the birds above enumerated are allowed to be taken or destroyed at any time. 
No beaver, muskrat, mink, sable, otter or fisher, is to be taken or trapped be- 
tween the 1st of May and the 1 5th of November.* There is also a clause pro- 
tecting any particular kind of game that may be imported by parties desirous 
of breeding the same. The fine varies from $2 to $25 for each head of game 
illegally killed, and in default of payment offenders are imprisoned in a com- 
mon jail for a term not exceeding thirty days. 

Speckled trout can be taken between the 1 st of January and the 1 st of Oc- 
tober, but only by angling by hand with hook and line. Whitefish or salmon- 
trout are not to be taken by any means between the 19th of November and 
the 1st of December, nor by means of any kind of seine between the 30th of 
May and the 1 st of August. The close seasons for bass, pickerel, maskinonge', 
and other fish are to be fixed by the governor in Council, to suit different lo- 
calities. 

In Quebec, the close season for elk, moose, cariboo, deer, fawn, or hare, is 
from the 1 st of February to the 1st of September ; for grouse, ptarmigan, part- 
ridge, woodcock, or snipe, between the 1 st of March and the 1st of September. 
No wild swan, wild goose, or any kind of wild duck is allowed to be shot at, 
trapped, or killed between the 20th of May and the 1st of September, except 
in that part of the province east of the Brandy Pots, where the inhabitants 
are allowed, for food only, to kill the same between the 1st of September and 
the 1st of June. Neither is it lawful to kill any of the above between sunset 
and sunrise. All the game animals and birds mentioned in the act except 
hares and partridges are protected from trapping. No eggs of any of the 
kinds of birds mentioned, or any species of wild-fowl, are allowed to be dis- 
turbed, injured, or taken. 

No lynx, wild cat, mink, or marten to be taken or killed between the 1 5th 
of April and the 1st of November ; no otter between the 1st of May and the 
1st of November ; no beaver between the 30th of April and the 1st of Sep- 
tember; no muskrat between the 1st of June and the 21st of October. Nor 
shall any person buy, sell, or have in his or her possession any unseasonable 
skin of any of the said animals. 

Fines vary from $ 1 to $50, and in default of immediate payment the penal- 
ty is imprisonment in the common jail for a term not exceeding three months. 
No proceeding under this act can be set aside by certiorari, an appeal only 
lying to the Circuit Court of the chief place of the district wherein the offense 
was committed. The jurisdiction is very summary, and the general provis- 
ions very stringent. No kind of trout (or lunge) can be taken between the 
1st of October and the 1st of January; whitefish and salmon-trout are not 
to be taken in any way between the 19th of November and the 1st of Decem- 
ber, nor by means of any kind of seine between the 31st of July and the 1st 
of December ; between the 31st of October and the 31st of December it is 
unlawful to kill shad or whitefish in Missisquoi Bay, Lake Champlain ; sal- 
mon can not be fished for in Ontario and Quebec, or the River Restigouche 
(N. B.), between the 31st of July and the 1st of May, except by fly surface- 
* The close season for bare is from the 1st of March to the 1st of September. 

Ll 



530 Appendix. 

fishing, which extends in Ontario and Quebec from the 30th of April to the 
81st of August. 

It is believed that much good has already been accomplished by the recent 
act for the protection of insectivorous birds. By its provisions it is made un- 
lawful to kill or snare, between the 1st of March and the 1st of August, any 
kind of bird whatsoever except eagles, falcons, hawks, wild pigeons, kingfish- 
ers, crows, and ravens. This act applies to both Ontario and Quebec. 

NEW BRUNSWICK. 

The law in this province is very strict as regards moose, the only game-laws 
of the province being those relating to the protection of moose and partridge. 
The close season only extends from the 1 st of February to the 1 st of May : 
fine $4-0 ; and any one is empowered to kill any dog found hunting within 
the prohibited time. No one is allowed to kill more than two moose within 
a period of twelve months: $12 for each offense. The killing, except for 
food, is prohibited ; and leaving the carcass in the woods subjects the offend- 
er to a fine of $20. Partridges are not to be killed between the 1 st of March 
and the 1 st of September. There was an act making it unlawful to kill deer 
on the island of Grand Menan for a period of three years, but it expired June 
8, 1868. The fishery regulations are the same as those of Quebec and Onta- 
rio, except that the close season for salmon is, for net-fishing, from the 1 5th 
of August to the 1st of March, and fly surface-fishing from the 15th of Sep- 
tember to the 1st of March. 

NOVA SCOTIA. 

Chapter 92 of the Eevised Statutes of Nova Scotia has also been amended, 
and now reads that no moose shall be killed between the 1 st of January and 
the 1st of September ; no cariboo between the 1st of March and the 1st of Sep- 
tember. The close time for partridge is from the 1st of January to the 1st of 
September ; and for woodcock and snipe, from the 1st of March to the 1st of 
September. The prohibitions respecting the killing of cow moose, and the 
limitation of the number allowed to be killed, have been removed. Pheasants 
are not allowed to be killed. The export of moose and cariboo hides is pro- 
hibited : fine from $20 to $50, and forfeiture of the game or hides. Otters, 
minks, and muskrats are not allowed to be killed between the 1st of May and 
the 1st of November, under a penalty of $8. It is absolutely forbidden to kill 
robins, swallows, sparrows, etc. , and birds of song. Penalty $ 1 for each bird 
so killed. 

The anomaly of the game-laws being dealt with by the various provinces 
in detail is strikingly apparent when the close seasons are considered, e. g. .- 
In Ontario the legal time for killing deer ends on the 1st of December; but 
in Quebec it is lawful to kill until the 1st of February. The same with re- 
gard to ducks : In Ontario the sportsman is debarred from knocking them 
over after the 1st of March, but his Quebec brother ean pop away at them 
until the 20th of May ; and so in other instances. This causes, and will con- 
tinue to cause, a great deal of trouble to secure convictions against parties for 
illegally killing game. These provinces being only separated by the River 



Appendix. 



531 



Ottawa makes it difficult to establish the fact of the illegal killing. Would 
it not be well to have a convention of sportsmen agree on close seasons that 
would answer for all the provinces, and press the adoption of them in their 
respective Legislatures ? Of course there are difficulties in the way, but these 
could easily be got over if sportsmen would only approach them in a candid 
and conciliatory spirit. 

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 

The game-laws of Prince Edward Island prohibit the killing of partridges 
between the 1st of March and the 1st of October, and salmon in the fall. 

NEWFOUNDLAND. 

There is only one game-law in this island, entitled "An act for the Protec- 
tion and Breeding of Wild-fowl and Game." It prohibits the killing, taking, 
purchasing, selling, or possessing of partridges from the 20th of February to 
the 25th of August, and applies a similar prohibition in the case of snipe, or 
any other wild or migratory birds frequenting for the "purpose of incubation 
(except wild geese), from the 1st of April to the 20th of August. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA. 

It is unlawful to buy, or sell, or exhibit for sale, any deer or elk between the 
1st of March and the 1st of August; or any grouse, prairie-fowl, or partridge, 
or to destroy or collect their eggs, between the 1 st of March and the 1 Oth of 
August. Pine $50, or three months' imprisonment. 




532 Appendix. 



A WORD IN CONCLUSION. 

And now, brethren of the angle — students in fish-culture— 
men anxious to develop American fisheries and establish ef- 
fective game-laws — farewell. If true anglers, you are sure to 
be gentle ; and as the truly gentle are always virtuous, you 
must be happy. But the best friends must part. 

I have endeavored to throw together some pleas in favor 
of the "gentle craft," and to hint at the importance of water- 
farming. If my mite, contributed to the general stock for 
the promotion of rational enjoyment and useful occupation, 
shall be found worthy of those readers whom it is my pleas- 
ure to honor, it will be a source of gratification to know that 
my labors have not been in vain. 

Let neither prosperity nor adversity deaden "the fresh 
feeling after Nature" which the use of the rod and reel al- 
ways heightens or confers. Whether overladen with good 
fortune or suffering under the shocks of adversity, forget not 
to take the magic wand and repair to the murmuring waters. 
" The music of those gentle moralists will steal into your 
heart ;" and, while invigorating physical energ3^, your souls 
will be charmed, and your minds soothed and tempered by 
the music of birds, the sights of nature, and the sounds of in- 
ferior animals above, around, and beneath the enlivening 
waters. 

With rosy dreams and bright streams, breezy morns and 
mellow skies, a light heart and a clear conscience, may "God 
speed ye welL" 



INDEX. 



A perfect omelet, 501. 

A royal salad, 508. 

Abrams, Captain, 91. 

Acclimatizing fishes, 440. 

Adirondack boats, 162. 

Agraz, 515. 

Ainsworth's race and screens, 397. 

Albicore supposed to be bonetta, 134. 

Alexander's "Salmon Fishing" in 

Canada, 335. 
American Game-laws, 521. 
Amphion and the dolphins, 38. 
Ancient and modern fish - culture, 

347. 
Anderson, John, Esq., 75. 
Angel-fish or monk-fish, 433. 
Antiquity of the "gentle art," 143. 
Apogon, the Mediterranean, 424. 
Ardent Angler, the, 192. 
Arrack punch, 514. 
Austin, George, 63. 
Australia, the salmon experiment in, 

369, 379. 
"Ave Maria," Canadian version, 218. 
Axillary sea bream, 425. 

Bait-box, 174. 

Bait-can and baits, 294. 

Bait-fishing for trout, 189. 

Baits, 36, 37, 67. 

Ballysadare salmon-pass, 413. 

Bamboo rod, Dr. Clerk's, 211. 

Banded ephippus, the, 425. 

Barbel, the, 428. 

Barker an authority on angling, 179. 

Barren Island, fishing at, 97. 

Basket, trout, 174. 

Bass, angling for striped, 48 ; trolling 
in Hell Gate for, 52; still- baiting 
for, 58 ; casting bait for, 64 ; an- 
gling at the clubs, 69 ; the sea bass, 
106; the black, 282; the Oswego, 
282; the black of the South, 284; 
the spotted or speckled hen, 285 ; 
the rock bass of the Lakes, 285 ; 



the striped sea, the black of Lake 

Huron, and the black sea, 424 ; 

spot -tail bass, 450; Canadian red 

bass, 490 ; Otsego Lake bass, 491. 
"Bass grounds," 282. 
Bearded umbrina, 425. 
Beardie or loach, 428. 
Bechamel sauce, 508. 
Bellows-fish, 111. 
Bergen Point, reef-fishing on, 61. 
Berners or Barnes, Dame Juliana, 

143. 
Bethune, Eev. Dr., 259, 275. 
Big porgee, the, 425. 
Birds, quail, rail, plover, and other 

small, 510. 
Black bass of Lake Huron, 424. 
Black flies, antidote for, 207. 
Black sea bass, 424. 
Bluefish, the, 117. 
Blue shark, the, 432. 
Boiling potatoes, 500; vegetables, 

512 ; meats, 512 ; fish, 512. 
Bonetta or Bonito, 132. 
Borelli, Professor, 45. 
Bory St. Vincent, M., 34. 
Bottom fishing, rig for, 59. 
Brackett, Walter M., 146, 290. 
Bradley, Professor, 38. 
Bream, the, 472. 
Breeding times of fishes, 406. 
Brochet liver and kidney, 504. 
Broiling fish, 513 ; steaks, 513. 
Brook trout, 146. 
Brown catfish, 433. 
Brown's, Dr., "Angler's Guide," 109. 
Buel feathered spoon, 285. 
Buel's patent feather troll, 299. 
Bullfrog and horned pout, 435. 
Butter, to make delicious, easily, 508. 

Camp bed, 229. 

Canada, hiring rivers in, 205 ; salmon 

fishing in, 206. 
Canadian salmon-stairs, 416. 



534 



Index. 



Canandaigua Lake, trout of, 263 ; 
black bass of, 282. 

Canarsie, fishing at, 90. 

Caplin, the, 105. 

Carp family, the, 428. 

Carps at Rotterdam, 38. 

Casting bait for bass, 64. 

Casting-lines, straightening, 175. 

Castle Connell rods, 212. 

Catfish family, the, 433. 

Cavallo, the, 462. 

Caving Channel, fishing at, 98. 

Cayuga Lake, trout of, 263 ; black 
bass of, 282 ; pike of, 288. 

Cero, cerus, or sierra, 134. 

Channel cat, the, 474. 

Characterization of fishes, 17. 

Chars, M.,37. 

Chesapeake Bay fishery, 342. 

Children, angling for, 198. 

Chimasra family, the, 432. 

Chinese fish-culture, 348. 

Chinese fishing, 29. 

Chinese hook, 22. 

Chowder, clam, 506. 

Chowder, Daniel Webster's, 505. 

Chowder, Major Henshaw's, 505. 

Chowder of sea bass and clams, 107. 

Chub, or Southern trout, 469. 

Chub-robin, 470. 

Churn-spoon, 67. 

Cider, mulled, 514. 

Cisco, or ciscoquette, 292. 

Clam chowder, 506. 

Clam or oyster fritters, 502. 

Clams, trade in, 340. 

Claret punch, 515. 

Clearing ring, 519. 

Clergyman's contribution, a, 189. 

Clerk (A.) and Co., 63, 179, 184, 
211. 

Clubs, bassing, 69. 

Coalfish, 430. 

Coast and estuary fishes, 46. 

Coast fishes and fisheries, 319. 

Cod family, the, 430. 

Codfish, the, 328. 

Cod-liver oil, 339. „ 

Colquhoun, John, on moving large fish, 
248. 

Commercial values — squeteague, 81 ; 
sea bass, 108; of lake fisheries, 315; 
of mackerel, 323 ; of shad, 325 ; of 
menhaden, 328 ; of salt-water fish- 
eries, 339. 



Common punch, 515. 

Compounding fancy drinks, 514. 

Concluding remarks, 532. 

Coney Island, fishing at, 80. 

Connecticut River, 49. 

Cookery for sportsmen, 449 ; general 

rules for, 512. 
Copal varnish, 518. 
Corn-meal fritters, 503. 
Coste, M., French commissioner, 40. 
Cranes and Herons, 510. 
Crocus, the, 461. 
Crooked Lake, fishes in, 283. 
Cross-fishing for salmon, 302. 
Cruelty of fishes, 43. 
Current wheel, 419. 
Cuttle-fish, 366. 

Dace and roach, 427. 

Dace, the horned, 493. 

Daniel "Webster's chowder, 451. 

Daniell, Rev. W. B., 28, 36, 37. 

Daw, Sir Humphry, 28. 

De Blainville, M., 40. 

Diploprion, the two-banded, 424. 

" Doctor, the," fishing with, 69. 

Dogfish, the large-spotted, the small- 
spotted, the picked (or piked), 432. 

Dolphin of the ancients, 426. 

Dressing flies, 308 ; leather wading- 
boots, 518. 

Dried codfish, 339. 

Drinks, compounding fancy, 514. 

Drops, knots, and loops, 166. 

Drum, the red, 458. 

Drying lines, 517. 

Dudong, the, 25. 

Duhalde, Father, on Chinese fish-cul- 
ture, 347. 

Dumeril, M., 36. 

Eagle or whip ray, the, 433. 
Eastport fishery, statistics of, 339. 
Eel, the common, 436. 
Eggs, 501 ; eggnog, 514. 
Egyptian fishing, 19. 
Elizabeth Islands, 77. 
Encampment on St. John River, 222. 
" Encvclopajdia Britannica," extract 

from, 31. 
English Neighborhood bridge, 49. 
English or jack snipe, and woodcock, 

511. 
Enoplossus, the armed, 424. 
Estuary catfish, the, 439. 



Index. 



535 



Etelis, the ruby-colored, 424. 
Europe, great lake trout of, 429. 

Fecundated spawn, 390. 

Fecundity of fishes, 41. 

Feeding, times for, 44. 

Feeding young trout or salmon, 392. 

"Field, ""the London, 159. 

Findon haddocks, 342, 

Finn, Mr., 30. 

Fire Island, the fishing at, 94. 

Fish-culture, ancient and modern, 347; 
in Europe in early times, 350 ; of 
this century, 355. 

Fish en grille ou en papillote, 506. 

Fish sauce, 507 ; stewed, 507 ; boil- 
ing, 512 ; frying, 513 ; broiling, 
513. 

Fish propagation assisted bv art, 378. 

Flatfish family, the, 431. 

Flies, artificial, 30 ; natural, for salm- 
on and trout, 31 ; for trout, 176 ; 
select artificial, for trout, 184; for 
salmon, 306 ; fly-dressing, 308. 

Flip, 515. 

Florida, black bass in rivers of, 284. 

Flounder, the, 116 ; the oblong, 431. 

Fly-fishing for trout, 154 ; on Massa- 
piqua Lake, 162 ; on St. John Riv- 
er, 244. 

Flying-fish,. 429. 

Fly-rods, 173 ; modern splice for, 159. 

Francis Francis on rods, 210; on spin- 
ning baits, 301. 

French commission on fish -culture, 
359. ' 

French hatching -boxes, 382 ; pilau, 
509. 

Fresh mackerel a la maitre d'hotel, 
505. 

Fried potatoes, 503 ; fish, 513. 

Frog, the fishing, 426. 

Furman's hatching-race, 401. 

Game-laws, 151, 521-531. 

Garfish, common, 429. 

Gaspe, horse mackerel in Bay of, 
135. 

Gaylor, Charles, 123. 

Gehin, Antoine, fish-culturist, 24, 356. 

General rules for cooking, 512 ; re- 
marks, 516. 

Geneva Lake, Wis., cisco in, 293. 

Gibson, Sandy, guide and gaffer, 56. 

Gillaroo trout, the, 256. 



Gillone's (Mr. J.) process of propaga- 
tion, 388. 

Gilsten, Mr., 123. 

Glue, marine, 519. 

Glass or wall eyed pike, 288. 

Gloves for trolling with, 121. 

Golden carp, or goldfish, 428. 

Golden mullet, 100. 

Grand Lake, trout of, 258. 

Grayling, the, 441, 485. 

Greek poem — the Halieutics, 19. 

Green's (Seth) "general directions," 
403. 

Greenwood Lake, pickerel of, 267. 

Grilse, salmon, 376. 

Grouper, the, 456. 

Growler, the, of Virginia, 424. 

Grunter, the, 99. 

Guiana garfish, 429. 

Gurnard, the, a bait-thief, 495. 

Gurnard, the mailed, 425 ; the streak- 
ed or rock, 425. 

Gut, silk-worm, 519. 

Habits of fishes, 22. 

Hackett's spinning tackle, 296 

Haddock, the, 430. . 

Hake, the great forked, 430. 

Halibut fishery, statistics of, 339. 

Halibut, the, 431. 

Ham gravy and toast, 502. 

Harlem River, fishing in, 49. 

Haskell's trolling bait, 297. 

Hat for fishing, 208. 

Hatching salmon, 382. 

Haunts of fishes, 44. 

Hell Gate, trolling in, 52. 

Herons and cranes, 510. 

Hibernating black bass, 282. 

Hogfish, the, 98 ; of Virginia, 465. 

Hooks — Theban, Pompeiian, Chinese, 
O'Shaughnessy, Pennsylvanian, 22; 
for bass, 55, 62 ; for sheepshead, 
87 ; round-bend fly, 185 ; fish-hook 
philosophy, 185; " Salmoniceps's" 
opinions on, 187 ; fish-hooks, 304 ; 
mounting salmon-hooks, 310. 

Horizontal screen, 419. 

Horned pout, the, 433. 

Horse mackerel, 135. 

Hue, Chinese, missionary, 348. 

Huchen, the, 441. 

Hughes, Archbishop, 275. 

Hughes, boat-builder, 56. 

Huningue, fish-culture at, 362. 



536 



Index. 



Hunter, Dr., 39. 

Hutchinson's Sproat-bend hooks, 306. 

Ichthyology, a glimpse of, 421. 
Inde, the, 440. 
India-rubber dressing, 518. 
Intelligence of fishes, 18. 
Items, noteworthy, 517. 

Jamaica Bay, fishing in, 94 ; trolling 
in, 123 ; Spanish mackerel in, 129. 

Jardine, Sir William, 42. 

Johnson's, Dr. Samuel, plagiarism, 
156. 

Johnson's, of Boston, rods, 212. 

Jones, William Floyd, 163. 

Josh Billings, lesson by, 191. 

Kelly's, Martin, rods, 212. 
Kingfish, the, 95, 455. 
King's Bridge, fishing at, 49. 
Knots, loops, and drops, 166. 

Ladder, fish, 407. 
Ladies, fishing for, 52. 
Lady, catfish, 439. 
Lake herring, 291. 
Lamprey, the, 437. 
Landing nets, 173. 
Leaping of trout, anecdote of, 417. 
Leather wading-boots, to dress, 518. 
Lebault, M., 39. 

Lines, 64 ; for trolling, 121 ; salmon- 
casting, 212. 
Ling, the, 495. 

Liver and kidney brochet, 504. 
Loach, the, or beardie, 428. 
Long island trout, 147. 
Long Lake, red trout of, 262. 
Loops, knots, and drops, 166. 
Lycoming Creek, anglers on, 193. 

M'Harg's troll, 299. 

Mackerel, the Spanish, 126 ; the horse, 

135 ; the common, 319. 
Mackerel, fresh, « la maitre d'hotel, 

505. 
Mackinaw trout, the, 264. 
Mailed gurnard, 425. 
Major Henshaw's chowder, 505. 
Malay emblem of constancy, 25. 
Marine, glue, 519. 
Marshfi'eld trout, 147. 
Maskinonge', the, 277, 441. 
Massapiqua Lake, fly-fishing on, 162. 



Meats, boiling, 512. 

Menhaden, or mossbunker, 326. 

Mesoprion, the one-spotted, 424. 

Middle Dam Camp, 181. 

Mirage on the St. Lawrence, 335. 

Mitchell, Hon. P., of Ottawa, 205. 

Mitchell, Professor, 83. 

Modern fish-culture, 347. 

Mollychumkemunk Lake, 181. 

Monk-fish, or angel-fish, 433. 

Moosehead Lake, trout of, 261. 

Morland, Thomas, 135. 

Morrison, Captain, 123, 124. 

Mosier, the gaffer, 69. 

Mossbunker, or menhaden, 326. 

Moth from feathers, to keep, 519. 

Mountain mullet, 441. 

Mounting salmon-hooks, 310. 

Mouth, the, of fishes, 34. 

Mulled cider, 514; wine, 514. 

Mullet, the golden, 100; the striped 
red, 338 ; the mountain, 441 ; the 
long-barred, 454 ; the cross-barred, 
456 ; the silver, or gray, 466 ; the 
black, 467 ; the red horse, 492. 

Mushrooms, to select, 511. 

Musquitoes, antidote for, 207. 

Nerves of fishes, 26. 
Nets employed in lake fisheries, 317. 
New York Bay, fishing in, 58. 
Noteworthy items, 517. 

Oil for hooks and reels, 519. 
Ombre chevalier, the, 441. 
Omelet, a perfect, 501. 
Oneida Lake, fishes in, 283, 288. 
Oppian, the poet, 19, 111, 427. 
Outfit for salmon-fishing, 215. 
Ova of the salmon, securing, 387. 
Owasco Lake, fishes in, 283. 
Oyster industry, the, 341. 
Oyster or clam fritters, 502. 
Oysters, scalloped, 504. 

Parr, salmon, 373, 374. 

Pasque Island, fishing at, 76. 

Perch, the, 287. 

Perch, the white, 101 ; of Southern 
waters, 468. 

Perfume bait of M. Chars, 37. 

Philosophy, fish-hook, 185. 

Pickerel, the American, 266 ; skit- 
tering for, 277 ; still-baiting for, 
271. 



Index. 



537 



Pike, the American pickerel, 266 ; the 

glass-eyed, or wall-eyed, 288. 
Pike family, the, 429. 
Pike-perch, the common, 423. 
Pilot-fish, the, 425. 
Pine Creek, Penn., anglers on, 192. 
Plaice, the, 431. 
Poachers and poaching, 152. 
Poetry of angling, 141. 
Poisoning fish, 34. 
Pompano, the, 460. 
Pompeii, hook exhumed at, 22. 
Porbeagle, the, 432. 
Porgee, the, 108. 
Porgee, the big, 425 ; the three-tailed, 

425. 
Pork, salt, to fry nicely, 501. 
Porpoise, the black, 25. 
Porpus, the, 25. 
Portugal, a fish-pond in, 39. 
Potatoes, boiling, 500. 
Potatoes, fried, 503. 
Potatoes, roasting, 500. 
Potted pigeons, curlew, or other dry 

birds, 510. 
Prerequisites for fishing, 22. 
Preserving food fishes fresh, 343 ; 

waterproof, 520. 
Pritchard Brothers, 184, 212. 
Propagation of fishes, 21, 378. 
Propelling minnow, the, 298. 
Propulsive power of fishes, 23. 
Pugne Island, 75. 
Punch, claret, 515 ; common, 515 ; 

regal, 515 ; arrack, 514. 

Quail, rail, plover, and other small 
birds, 510 ; pigeons, curlew, or oth- 
er dry birds, potted, 510. 

Queer fishes, 439. 

Quick-made rolls, 500. 

Quick-made yeast, 500. 

Rapid River, trout-fishing in, 181. 

Rattling Run, salmon-fishing in, 241. 

Ray family, the, 433. 

Regal punch, 515. 

Reels, 64; trout reels, 172; salmon 

reels, 212 ; to dry lines, 517. 
Remarks, concluding, 532. 
Remy, Joseph, fish-culturist, 356. 
Rennie, James, 28, 33. 
Rice Lake, the maskinonge of, 278. 
Roach, the, 427. 
Roasting potatoes, 500. 



Robinson splice, the, 159. 
Rockfish or wrasses, 111. 
Rockling, the, 430. 
Rods, 54, 58, 66 ; modern splice for 

fly-rods, 159 ; fly-rods for trout, 173 ; 

for salmon, 208, 212. 
Rogers, Sir Walter, 39. 
Rolls, French, 501. 
Rolls, quick-made, 500. 
Ruggles, Judge Philo T., 30. 
Russell, Mr. Willis, of Quebec, 214. 
Rusty dab, the, 431. 

Salad, a royal, 508 ; Amelia, 509 ; 
potato, 509. 

Salmon and trout family, 429. 

Salmon, the, 202 ; outfit for salmon 
fishing, 207 ; departure for fishing, 
215 ; fishing in the St. John River, 
218 ; a morning's experience, 234 ; 
natural history of, 367; feeding 
young salmon, 392 ; salmon-passes, 
ladders, etc., 407; the California, 
484. 

Salmon-hatching, 38"2 ; securing the 
ova, 487 ; Mr. John Gilloue's proc- 
ess of propagating, 388 ; feeding 
young, 392. 

Salmon, trolling for, in Scotland, 302. 

Salmon leaps, 411. 

" Salmonia," 28. 

" Salmouiceps" on hooks, 187. 

Salt pork, to fry nicely, 501. 

Salt-water fisheries, 339. 

Sauce a la maitre d'hotel, 507. 

Saybrook, 49. 

Scabbard-fish, the, 426. 

Scaling-fish, instructions for, 99. 

Scalloped oysters, -504. 

Scandinavian charr, 441. 

Schoodic Lake, trout of, 258. 

Scollops, trade in, 340. 

Scrambled eggs, 501. 

Sea bass, the, 106. 

Sea loach, the, 430. 

Sea salmon, the common, 429. 

Sea snipe, the, 111. 

"Secrets of Angling," by J. Davors, 
37. 

Seneca Lake, trout of, 263 ; black bass 
in, 282 ; pike in, 288. 

Senses of fishes, 24. 

Serranus, the lettered, 424; the spined, 
424. 

Shad, the, 324. 



538 



Index. 



Shadine, the, 466. 

Sharks, 432. 

Shaw, Mr., of Scotland, 24. 

Sheepshead, 84 ; angling for, 92. 

Sherry cobbler, 514. 

Shiner, the, 294. 

Shiner, the New York, 428. 

Sierra, cero, or cerus, 134. 

Silk, tinsel, etc., 519. 

Silkworm gut, 519. 

Silure, the, 439. 

Silver or sea trout, 255. 

Sinker, the ponderating, 310. 

Sinkers for sheepshead, 88. 

Siscowet, the, 481. 

Skaneateales Lake, fishes in, 283. 

Sligo salmon-stairs, 415. 

Smell in fishes, 36. 

Smelt, the, 102. 

Smelts, trade in, 340. 

Smoked beef and eggs, 502. 

Smoking salmon, statistics of, 339. 

Smolt, salmon, 375. 

Smooth hound, the, 432. 

Snapper, the red, 453. 

Snedicor's, Oba., preserve, 158. 

Sole, the common, 431. 

"Songs of the Wilderness," extract 
from, 234. 

Soups, 512. 

Southern sea trout, 82. 

Southside Club, 158. 

Spanish mackerel, 156. 

Spawning-boxes, directions for, 386, 
392. 

Spawning-times of fishes, 406. 

Spermaceti, 518. 

Spearing, the, 103. 

Spinning baits, 295. 

Spinning tackle for live bait, 299. 

Splice, modern, for fly-rods, 159. 

Spot, or Lafayette, 463. 

Spuyten Duyvel Creek, bass fishing in, 
49, 52. 

Squeteague or weakfish, 79. 

Squids — for bluefish, 120 ; for Spanish 
mackerel, 131. 

St. John River, fishing on, 222. 

Stain, how to, silkworm gut, 170 ; 
gimp, 519. 

Statistics of lake fisheries, 315 ; of 
mackerel catches, 323 ; of shad fish- 
eries, 325 ; of menhaden, 328 ; of 
salt-water fisheries, 339. 

Stewed fish, 507. 



Stocking old ponds, 393. 

Stoddart, Thomas Tod, on worm-fish- 
ing for trout, 194. 

Stoddart's directions for obtaining silk- 
worm gut, 171. 

Straightening casting-lines, 175. 

Streaked or rock gurnard, 425. 

Stream, how to fish a, 165. 

Striped bass, 48. See also Bass. 

Striped sea bass, 424. 

Stripping trout, 391. 

Sturgeon and Chimajra family, 432. 

Sucker, common New York, 428. 

Sulphur whale, 335. 

Sunfish, the, 286; the short sunfish, 
442. 

Superior, food fishes of Lake, 315. 

Surmullet, the red, 424. 

Swordfish, the common, and the In- 
dian, 426. 

Tackle for taking small bass, 50 ; for 
kingfish, 97 ; for sea bass, 108 ; for 
bluefish, 120; fortrouting, 159; for 
salmon, 207 ; for pickerel, 270 ; for 
maskinonge, 279. 

Taste in fishes, 33. 

Tautog or blackfish, 113. 

Tautog, the American, 111; how to 
cook it, 114. 

Teeth of fishes, 34. 

Tench, the, 428. 

Thebes, hook exhumed at, 22. 

Thornback ray, the, 433. 

Thousand Islands, the, 274. 

Thumb-stall, 67. 

To make delicious butter easily, 508 ; 
to select mushrooms, 511 ; to dress 
leather wading-boots, 518 ; to keep 
moth from feathers, 519 ; to pre- 
serve silk-worm gut, 519 ; to stain 
gimp, 519. 

Togue, the, 479. 

Tongue, the, of fishes, 34. 

Tope or penny-dog, 432. 

Torpedo, the common, 433. 

Torsk, the, 430. 

" Transmutations of the salmon," 356. 

Trolling — in Hell Gate, 52; among 
the Thousand Islands, 274 ; troll- 
ing weather and baits, 303 ; differ- 
ent kinds of tackle, 53, 54, 55, 295, 
296, 297, 298, 299. 

Trout, the Southern sea, 82 ; the brook, 
146 ; fly-fishing for, 154 ; bait-fish- 



Index. 



539 



ing for, 189 ; silver or sea, 255 ; the 
white, 25S ; the winninish, 260 ; the 
red of Long Lake, 262 ; of Seneca 
and Cayuga, 263 ; the Mackinaw, 
264; stripping, 391 ; feeding young, 
392 ; stocking old ponds with, 393 ; 
the New York brook, 429 ; the great 
lake trout of Europe, 429. 

Troutlet, 429. 

Trumpet-fish, 111. 

Trygon, the many-spined, 433. 

Tunny, the common, 426. 

Turbot, the, 431. 

Tusculum, ancient fish-ponds at, 350. 

Umbagog Lake, 181. 

Umbagog range of lakes, trout of, 147. 

Umbrina, the bearded, 425. 

Varnish, copal, 518. 
Vegetables, boiling, 512. 
Venison sauce, 504. 
Venison sausages, 503. 
Vision in fishes, 26. 
Voracity of fishes, 42. 

Walcott's (Dr.) verses, 43. 
Wall-eyed or glass-eyed pike, 288. 
Walton, Izaak, 36, 37. 
Wax, white, 518. 



Weakfish or sqneteagne, 79. 

Webster, the late Hon. Daniel, 158. 

Welch's (Robert) rods, 212. 

West Island, fishing at, 69. 

Whale fishing, 332. 

Whip or eagle rav, the, 433. 

Whitefish, the, 290. 

Whitefish, frozen, 291. 

Whitefish of the Lakes, 429. 

White salmon of Virginia, 424. 

White sauce for fish, 507 ; wax, white, 

518. 
White's (Dr.) story of a bullfrog, 434. 
White trout, the, 258. 
Whiting, the, 430 ; of Newport, 494. 
Wilkes, George, fishing with, 62. 
Wine, mulled, 514. 
Winninish, the, 260, 442. 
Wolf-fish, the, 426. 
Worm-fishing for trout, 194. 
Wrasse, the blue-striped, 111. 
Wrasses, or rockfish, 111. 
Wright, Sile, the guide and gaffer. 

Xenarchus, "the pnrple of," 20. 

Yeast, quick-made, 500. 

Yellow perch, the American, 424. 

Zodiac, signs of the, 18. 




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2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $8 00. 

FLAMMARION'S ATMOSPHERE. The Atmosphere. Translated from the French, 
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HUDSON'S HISTORY OF JOURNALISM. Journalism in the United States, from 
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DR. LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNALS. The Last Journals of David Living- 
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SIR SAMUEL BAKER'S ISMAILIA. Ismaili'a : A Narrative of the Expedition 
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MYERS'S REMAINS OF LOST EMPIRES. Remains of Lost Empires. Sketches 
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EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE CONFERENCE, 1873. History, Essays, Orations, and 
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VINCENT'S LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. The Land of the White Ele- 
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TRISTRAM'S THE LAND OF MOAB. The Result of Travels and Discoveries on 
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THE REVISION OF THE ENGLISH VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
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This work embraces in one volume: 
I. ON A FRESH REVISION OF THE ENGLISH NEW TESTAMENT. 
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II. ON THE AUTHORIZED VERSION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT in 
Connection with some Recent Proposals for its Revision. By Riohaei> 
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III. CONSIDERATIONS ON THE REVISION OF THE ENGLISH VERSION 
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cester and Bristol. 178 pp. 

NORDHOFF'S CALIFORNIA. California : for Health, Pleasure, and Residence. 

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MOTLEY'S UNITED NETHERLAND'S. History of the United Netherlands: from 
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MOTLEY'S LIFE AND DEATH OF JOHN OF BARNEVELD. Life and Death 
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HAYDN'S DICTIONARY OF DATES, relating to all Ages and Nations. For Uni- 
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MACGREGOR'S ROB ROY ON THE JORDAN. The Rob Boy on the Jordan, 
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WALLACE'S MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. The Malay Archipelago: the Land of the 
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WHYMPER'S ALASKA. Travel and Adventure in the Territory of Alaska, for- 
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WINCHELL'S SKETCHES OF CREATION. Sketches of Creation : a Populai 
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Science respecting the Primordial Condition and the Ultimate Destiny of the 
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ALFORD'S GREEK TESTAMENT. The Greek Testament : with a critically revised 
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ABBOTT'S FREDERICK THE GREAT. The History of Frederick the Second, 
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• 

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ABBOTT'S NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. The History of Napoleon Bonaparte. By 
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ABBOTT'S NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA ; or, Interesting Anecdotes and Remark- 
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ALCOCK'S JAPAN. The Capital of the Tycoon : a Narrative of a Three Years' 
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ALISON'S HISTORY OF EUROPE. First Series : From the Commencement of 
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addition to the Notes on Chapter LXXVL, which correct the errors of the 
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appended to this American edition.] Second Series : From the Fall of Napoleon, 
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BALDWIN'S PRE-HISTORIC NATIONS. Pre-Historic Nations ; or, Inquiries con- 
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EARTH'S NORTH AND CENTRAL AFRICA. Travels and Discoveries in North 
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HENRY WARD BEECHER'S SERMONS. Sermons by Henry Ward Beeoher, 
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LYMAN BEECHER'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, &o. Autobiography, Correspondence, 
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BOSWELL'S JOHNSON. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Including a Journey 
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DRAPER'S CIVIL WAR. History of the American Civil War. By John W. Dra. 
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DRAPER'S INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OP EUROPE. A History of tho 
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DRAPER'S AMERICAN CIVIL POLICY. Thoughts on the Future Civil Policy of 
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DU CHAILLU'S AFRICA. Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa with 
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BELLOWS'S OLD WORLD. The Old World in its New Face : Impressions of Eu- 
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BROD HEAD'S HISTORY OF NEW YORK. History of the State of New York. 
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BROUGHAM'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Life and Times of Henky, Lobt> Brougham. 
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BULWER'S PROSE WORKS. Miscellaneous Prose Works of Edward Bulwer. 
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BULWER'S HORACE. The Odes and Epodes of Horace. A Metrical Translation 
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BULWER'S KING ARTHUR. A Poem. By Eakl Lytton. New Edition. 12mo, 
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BURNS'S LIFE AND WORKS. The Life and Works of Robert Burns. Edited 
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REINDEER, DOGS, AND SNOW-SHOES. A Journal of Siberian Travel and Ex- 
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CARLYLE'S FREDERICK THE GREAT. History of Friedrich II., called Frederick 
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CARLYLE'S FRENCH REVOLUTION. History of the French Revolution. Newly 
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CARLYLE'S OLIVER CROMWELL. Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell. 
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CHALMERS'S POSTHUMOUS WORKS. The Posthumous Works of Dr. Chalmers. 
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COLERIDGE'S COMPLETE WORKS. The Complete Works of Samuel Taylor 
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DOOLITTLE'S CHINA. Social Life of the Chinese : with some Account of their Re- 
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special but not exclusive Reference to Fuhchau. By Rev. Justus Doolittle, 
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GIBBON'S ROME. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. By Er>- 
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By Brevet Major-General W. B. Hazen, U.S.A., Colonel Sixth Infantry. Crown 
6vo, Cloth, $2 50. 



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